Renewables to close 2018 with $228.3 billion in investments, report says

Global renewable energy market will close out 2018 with 154.6 GW of new power generation capacity and $228.3 billion in investments, according to the Global Renewable Energy Outlook 2018 report at ResearchAndMarkets.com.

The investments in power generation is forecast to decline slightly by (-0.7%) over 2017 due to reductions in solar capacity additions in China, but this restraint will be offset by the growth in most technologies and regions, report says.

Wind and solar PV will continue to grow strongly, while biomass, geothermal, and small hydro will expand steadily but at a slower pace, and the ocean power sector will strive to get the right support to take off.

Renewable technologies are being adopted rapidly across all regions, with very few countries being left out of the market. Latin America, and Africa and the Middle East will experience the greatest growth in installed capacity during 2018, at 20.1% and 52.3%, respectively, due to their small installed base, according to the market outlook, which further adds that Asia will be responsible for 58% of the total capacity growth in 2018.

Globally, feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) have been the preferred method to obtain investments in renewables. However, an increasing number of countries are progressively cutting subsidies, compelling the renewables industry to rely on competitive auctions and private sector power purchase agreement (PPAs).

Source: ResearchAndMarkets.com