WORLD NEW ENERGY HIT RECORD $328.9 BILLION IN 2015

Clean Energy Defies Fossil Fuel Price Crash To Attract Record $329bn Global Investment In 2015

January 14, 2016 Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Global renewable energy had its biggest annual growth ever in 2015, with new wind capacity at 64 GW and new solar photovoltaic capacity at 57 GW, leading the sector’s nearly 30% year-on-year expansion. Total global clean energy investment hit a record $328.9 billion, 4% over 2014’s $315.9 billion. Asset finance of utility-scale renewables was $199 billion of the total, 6% over 2014. The next biggest part of global renewables investment was in distributed generation, especially distributed solar, at $67.4 billion, up 12% from 2014. Most significantly, fossil fuel prices dropped precipitously but did not lure investors. From mid-2014 to the end of 2015, the Brent crude price dropped 67% from $112.36/barrel to $37.28/barrel. A leading European coal price benchmark fell 35% from $73.70/tonne to $47.60/tonne. The U.S. Henry Hub natural gas price index was down 48%, from $4.42/mmBTU to $2.31/mmBTU. The European economy that long drove renewables growth continued to be weak but China, the U.S., and new markets in Mexico, Chile, South Africa, and Morocco picked up the slack. click here for more

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