UK fourth largest renewables investor in the world in 2015

The UK was the world’s fourth largest investor in renewables in 2015, according to a new report by REN21.

Renewable investment in the UK (excluding research and development and hydropower) totalled $22.2 billion (£15.4 billion) last year – a 25 per cent increase on 2014. Meanwhile China, the US and Japan ranked first, second and third respectively.

Britain’s spending was dominated by wind power, which accounted for $10.5 billion (£7.3 billion) of the total. The UK ranked sixth for new wind capacity in 2015, with 1GW being added over the year. It brought the total capacity for the country to 13.6GW – ranking ninth for overall capacity worldwide.

The UK placed second globally in terms of new offshore wind capacity, adding 571MW. It was well behind first placed Germany, which added 3.3GW. Despite this, the UK was top in terms of total capacity, with 5.1GW installed at year’s end.

When it came solar photovoltaics, the UK ranked fourth for new capacity, adding 3.7GW over the year. The report attributed the “rush” to “anticipation of subsidy expirations and [feed-in tariff] cuts”. Total capacity rose to 9.1GW, giving Britain ninth place in the global rankings.

The UK also ranked sixth in terms of new bio-power capacity. It grew by 12 per cent, largely driven by the partial conversion of Drax from coal to biomass. The country saw the largest growth in biogas in Europe, “stimulated by an attractive Feed-in Tariff rate”. Earlier this week the government put forward proposals to scrap the Feed-in Tariff for larger anaerobic digestion installations.

Globally 2015 was a record year for renewable installations as 147GW of new capacity was added. It marked a nine per cent increase over the year and brought the total capacity to around 1.85TW.

More new capacity came from renewables than from all fossil fuels combined, accounting for 60 per cent of all new additions. By the end of 2016 renewables made up an estimated 28.9 per cent of world’s generating capacity, enough to supply 23.7 per cent of global electricity. Worldwide spending on renewables hit $286 billion (£198 billion) – a $13 billion (£9 billion) increase on last year. 

Executive secretary of REN21 Christine Lins said: “What is truly remarkable about these results is that they were achieved at a time when fossil fuel prices were at historic lows, and renewables remained at a significant disadvantage in terms of government subsidies. For every dollar spent boosting renewables, nearly four dollars were spent to maintain our dependence on fossil fuels.”