India leads renewable energy charge

UN said developing world including China, India and Brazil committed a total of $156 bn in renewable capacity last year, up 19% on 2014

India and China led developing countries in investments made in renewable energy in 2015, when for the first time commitments in solar, wind and other renewables capacity by emerging economies surpassed those by wealthy nations, a UN-backed report has said.

The report “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016” by the UN Environment Programme said the developing world including China, India and Brazil committed a total of $156 billion in new renewables capacity last year, up 19 per cent on 2014.

Investments by developed countries were down eight per cent in 2015 to $130 billion.

The year 2015 was the first time when investment in renewables in developing countries outweighed that in developed economies, the report said.

A large part of the record-breaking investment in developing countries took place in China, which lifted its investment by 17 per cent to $102.9 billion, more than a third of global commitments.

India was also among the top 10 investing countries in renewable energy, with its commitments rising 22 per cent to $10.2 billion.

The US, Japan, UK Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Chile all made it to the top 10 investing countries in 2015.

“The investment (in India) took place against a backdrop of pro-renewable policies introduced by India’s BJP government. These include a target to almost- triple wind capacity to 60 GW by 2022,” the report said.

Within the developing-economy category, the “Big Three” of China, India and Brazil saw investment rise 16 per cent to $120.2 billion, while other developing economies enjoyed a 30 per cent bounce to $36.1 billion.

Among developed countries, investment in Europe was down 21%, from $62 billion in 2014 to $48.8 billion in 2015, the continent's lowest figure for nine years despite record investments in offshore wind projects.

The US was up 19% to $44.1 billion, and in Japan investment was much the same as the previous year at $36.2 billion.

The report said India enjoyed a second successive year of increasing investment, breaching the $10 billion for the first time since 2011.

It added that the highlight of India's performance in 2015 was a jump in utility-scale solar financings to $4.6 billion, up 75% on the previous year, although still a little below the 2011 record of $4.9 billion.

Among the big projects getting the financial go-ahead were the NTPC Kadiri PV plant phase one, at 250 MW, and the Adani Ramanathapuram PV installation, at 200 MW.