Solar energy dominated global investment in new power generation at unprecedented levels in 2017, according to a new report that underlines that clean energy makes sense not only for the climate but for the global economy as well.

Some 98 gigawatts of new solar capacity were installed worldwide in 2017, far more than the net additions of any other technology, including fossil fuels and nuclear.

The rapid growth in solar power is significant as global markets recognise the importance of meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.

“The extraordinary surge in solar investment shows how the global energy map is changing and, more importantly, what the economic benefits are of such a shift,” said UN Environment head, Erik Solheim. “Investments in renewables bring more people into the economy, they deliver more jobs, better quality jobs and better paid jobs. Clean energy also means less pollution, which means healthier, happier development.”

Solar power also attracted far more investment, at $160.8 billion (up 18 percent from the year previous), than any other power technology in 2017. It made up 57 percent of the total investment in all renewables (excluding large hydro) of $279.8 billion, and it towered above new investment in coal and gas generation capacity (estimated at $103 billion).

The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2018 report, released on Thursday, April 5, 2018 by UN Environment, Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, finds that falling costs for solar electricity, and to some extent wind power, are continuing to drive deployment.

“While there is much to be positive about, it is also evident that we need to continue to push the acceleration of the global renewable energy revolution. Climate change is moving faster than we are,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa, in the report foreword co-authored with Mr. Solheim and Nils Stieglitz, President of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. “Last year was the second hottest on record and carbon dioxide levels continue to rise. In electricity generation, new renewables still have a long way to go.”

“In 2015, countries adopted the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the central goal of which is to limit the rise in global average temperatures to well below two degrees Celsius and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. We will only achieve this goal by substantially and rapidly reducing use of fossil fuels,” the three state in the report foreword.

Last year was the eighth in a row in which global investment in renewables exceeded $200 billion – and since 2004, the world has invested $2.9 trillion in these green energy sources.

Overall, China was by far the world’s largest investing country in renewables, at a record $126.6 billion, up 31 percent from 2016.

There were also sharp increases in investment in Australia (up 147 per cent to $8.5 billion), Mexico (up 810 per cent to $6 billion), and in Sweden (up 127 percent to $3.7 billion).

A record 157 gigawatts of renewable power were commissioned last year, up from 143 gigawatts in 2016 and far out-stripping the net 70 gigawatts of fossil-fuel generating capacity added (after adjusting for the closure of some existing plants) over the same period.

“The world added more solar capacity than coal, gas, and nuclear plants combined,” said Mr. Stieglitz. “This shows where we are heading, although the fact that renewables altogether are still far from providing the majority of electricity means that we still have a long way to go.”

Global investments in renewable energy of $2.7 trillion from 2007 to 2017 (11 years inclusive) have increased the proportion of world electricity generated by wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-energy, geothermal, marine and small hydro from 5.2 percent to 12.1 per cent.

The current level of electricity generated by renewables corresponds to about 1.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions avoided – roughly equivalent to those produced by the entire U.S. transport system.

Chinese solar power led a record 157 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy capacity added worldwide last year, more than double the amount of new generation capacity from fossil fuels, a U.N. backed report showed on Thursday, April 5, 2018.

Globally, a record 98 GW of solar power capacity was installed last year with China contributing more than half, or 53 GW, according to U.N. Environment, the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The new renewable energy generating capacity, also including wind, biofuels and geothermal energy, dwarfed the 70 GW of net new capacity from fossil fuels in 2017, it said.

“We are at a turning point … from fossil fuels to the renewable world,” Erik Solheim, head of U.N. Environment, told Reuters. “The markets are there and renewables can take on coal, they can take on oil and gas.”

Fossil fuels, however, still dominate existing capacity. Solar, wind, biomass and other renewables generated 12.1 per cent of world electricity in 2017, up from 5.2 per cent a decade earlier, it said.

Climate scientists have advised governments that renewables should be the world’s dominant source of energy by mid-century.

They say thus is vital if they want to achieve the toughest goals set under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to combat global warming.

Global investment in renewable energy rose by two per cent to 279.8 billion dollars in 2017 from a year earlier. China invested the most in renewables at 126.6 billion dollars – its largest amount ever and 45 per cent of the global total.

“Much lower costs … are the driver of solar investment worldwide,” said Angus McCrone, chief editor of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and lead author of the report, told the media.

And solar power in China benefited from government policies to help industry, reduce air pollution and slow climate change, he said.

The report said the cost of generating electricity from large-scale solar photovoltaic technology fell by 15 percent last year to $86 per megawatt hour.

In the U.S., renewable energy investment fell by six per cent in 2017 to $40.5 billion.

However, it was relatively resilient to policy uncertainties under President Donald Trump, who wants to promote fossil fuels, the report said.

“Trump can no more brake this than those who opposed the Industrial Revolution could stop the Industrial Revolution,” said Solheim, a former Norwegian environment minister.

Still, Trump’s decision in January to slap tariffs on imported solar panels could dent U.S. solar power in the short term, McCrone said.

But there was no sign the U.S. Congress would scrap tax credits for renewables that was a bigger driver of long-term investment, he said.

Europe’s investment in renewables plunged by 36 per cent to 40.9 billion dollars due to factors including the end of subsidies in some countries for solar and wind and lower technology costs.

“In Europe the fall in investment is strongly driven by Germany and the UK,” said Ulf Moslener, lead editor of the report at the Frankfurt School.

The world has invested $2.9 trillion dollars in green energy sources since 2004, a new UN-backed report released on Thursday, April 5, 2018 said.

The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2018 report, released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and its partners, showed a steady move away from fossil fuel-based power production to ‘green’ power sources.

The report said solar energy dominated global investment in new power generation like never before in 2017.

It added that 2017 was the eighth in a row in which global investment in renewables exceeded $200 billion dollars.

“In 2017, the world installed a record 98 gigawatts of new solar capacity, far more than the net additions of the rest – other renewables, fossil fuel and nuclear”, according to the report.

The report added that solar power also attracted far more investment than any other technology, at $160.8 billion, up 18 per cent.

A driving power behind last year’s surge in solar was China, where an unprecedented boom saw some 53 gigawatts added – more than half the global total – and $86.5 billion invested, up 58 per cent.

“The extraordinary surge in solar investment shows how the global energy map is changing and, more importantly, what the economic benefits are of such a shift.

“Investments in renewables bring more people into the economy, they deliver more jobs, better quality jobs and better paid jobs.

“Clean energy also means less pollution, which means healthier, happier development,” UNEP chief Erik Solheim, said.

It said 2017 was the eighth in a row in which global investment in renewables exceeded $200 billion– and since 2004, the world had invested $2.9 trillion in these green energy sources.

Overall, China was by far the world’s largest investing country in renewables, at a record $126.6 billion, up 31 per cent on 2016.

There were also sharp increases in investment in Australia, up 147 per cent to $8.5 billion; Mexico, up 810 per cent to six billion dollars; and Sweden, up 127 per cent to $3.7 billion.

By Prudence Arobani