'Global renewable energy investment revived in 2014'

Global investments in renewable energy rebounded strongly last year, registering a 17 per cent increase after two years of decline and brushing aside the challenge from cheaper crude oil prices, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report said.

A salient feature of 2014 was the rapid expansion of renewable energy in developing countries, where investments jumped 36 per cent to $131.3 billion. China with $83.3 billion, Brazil ($7.6 billion), India ($7.4 billion) and South Africa ($5.5 billion) were all in the top 10 investing countries, while more than $1 billion was invested in Indonesia, Chile, Mexico, Kenya and Turkey.

Major expansion of solar installations in China and Japan and record investments in offshore wind projects in Europe helped propel global investments in 2014 to $270 billion, a 17 per cent surge from the 2013 figure of $232 billion.

It was the first annual increase in dollars invested in and committed to renewable (excluding large hydro-electric projects) in three years, three per cent below the all-time record of $279 billion set in 2011. The falls in the investment figures for 2012 (to $256 billion) and 2013 (to $232 billion) were attributed in part to lower prices for renewable energy technologies due to economies of scale.

The 103 gigawatt (Gw) generating capacity added around the world made 2014 the best year ever for newly installed capacity, according to the UNEP's ninth annual 'Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investments' report, prepared by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Centre, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

A continuing sharp decline in technology cost, particularly in solar, means every dollar invested in renewable energy bought significantly more generating capacity in 2014. A total of 103 Gw capacity was added by new renewable energy sources in the previous year, compares with 86 Gw in 2013, 89 Gw in 2012 and 81 Gw in 2011.

The 103 Gw of capacity added by renewables last year equals the energy generating capacity of all 158 nuclear power plant reactors in the US.

Wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-power, geothermal, small hydro and marine power contributed an estimated 9.1 per cent of world electricity generation in 2014, up from 8.5 per cent in 2013. This meant that last year the world electricity system emitted 1.3 gigatonnes of CO2, roughly twice the emissions of the world's airline industry, less than it would have if that 9.1 per cent had been produced by the same fossil-dominated mix generating the other 90.9 per cent of world power.

"Once again in 2014, renewables made up nearly half of the net power capacity added worldwide," says Achim Steiner, UN under secretary-general and executive director of UNEP.