While rapid advancements on the clean energy front are often associated with Europe or North America, in 2015, emerging countries exceeded the developed world in terms of renewable energy investments for the first time. China was the primary driver of impressive growth in solar and wind power capacity over 2013-2015, while Western economies experienced a retraction after enjoying a wave of investment inflows, fueled by generous subsidy schemes, a couple of years earlier.
However, 2016 was as a year of slowdown in global clean energy expenditure, with recent boomer China turning its attention to investments in power grid and electricity market reforms, in order to integrate new renewable capacity. As a result of a 32% decline in Chinese renewable energy investment, developed countries regained the lead in 2016. Despite the nudge, developing economies will continue to be the focal point of investors’ attention in the future however, mostly due to immense clean energy growth potential in countries such as India and Brazil.
