Global new investment in renewable power and fuels (not including hydropower projects larger than 50 megawatts, MW) reached a record high in 2021, at an estimated USD 366 billioni.1 This was a 6.8% increase over 2020, due largely to the global rise in solar photovoltaic (PV) installations.2 Investment in renewable power and fuels has exceeded USD 250 billion annually for eight consecutive years.3 (→ See Figure 53.) These estimates do not include investment in renewable heating and cooling technologies, for which data are not collected systematically.
Solar PV and wind power continued to dominate new investment in renewables, with solar PV accounting for 56% of the 2021 total, and wind power for 40%.4 The strong growth in solar PV investment in 2020 expanded further in 2021, rising nearly 19% to reach USD 205 billion.5 Wind power investment fell 5% to USD 147 billion, reflecting a sharp decline in offshore wind power investment (down 45%) and a smaller increase in onshore wind power investment (up 16%).6 Investment in other renewable energy technologies, including biomass, waste-to-energy, geothermal power, and small hydropower, declined overall.7
Investment in electric vehicles and associated charging infrastructure was up 77% to USD 273 billion in 2021.8 This reflected the increased policy support for electrification in core auto markets, new battery technologies, lower expected costs and rising consumer adoption despite the COVID-19 pandemic.9 Investment in energy storage also reached a new record of USD 7.9 billion in 2021, which may reflect falling technology costs and growing political incentives and targets.10
FIGURE 53.
Source: Based on BloombergNEF. See endnote 3 for this chapter.
Note: Figure does not include investment in hydropower projects larger than 50 MW. BloombergNEF data for previous years have been revised since the publication of GSR 2021.
iData are from BloombergNEF and include the following renewable energy projects: all biomass and waste-to-energy, geothermal and wind power projects of more than 1 MW; all hydropower projects of between 1 and 50 MW; all solar power projects, with those less than 1 MW estimated separately and referred to as small-scale projects or small-scale distributed capacity; all ocean energy projects; and all biofuel projects with an annual production capacity of 1 million litres or more.i