It has been announced by Bloomberg New Energy Finance report that worldwide spending on clean energy fell by 18 per cent from 2016 — at $287 billion down from $348 billion in 2015.
Despite the fall, the amount of wind and solar energy connected to the world’s grids rose by 19 per cent, likely because investors are receiving greater rewards for less money pumped in.
It is estimated that 70 gigawatts of solar power were added to the world’s grids alongside 56GW of wind energy.
At the same time however, it was the biggest one-year drop in investment since 2014, and comes amid concern in the rise of populism and particular environmental movements.
That said, the investment drop was not due to last year’s surprising political turmoil.
Instead, the report pointed its finger at China (where spending fell by 26 per cent), alongside Japan (43 per cent), and the United States (7 per cent).
According to Justin Wu, head of Asia for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, both China and Japan are concentrating on “digesting” record breaking investments as well as strengthening grids amid reforming power markets.
He said that, “in Japan, future growth will come not from utility-scale projects but from rooftop solar systems installed by consumers attracted by the increasingly favourable economics of self-consumption.”
While 2016 might be one of the largest falls in renewable energy investment, 2015 was a record year.
Although many areas in renewable energy received less investment last year, offshore windfarms, a controversial subject in the UK, attracted $30 billion in funding, up 40 per cent from the previous year.
The figures were given an edge thanks to the go-ahead for the world’s largest offshore wind project, the Hornsea windfarm off the coast of the UK, at nearly $6 billion.
Another 14 other offshore wind farms were given the green light in waters close to the UK, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and China.
