China and India overtake the US in green investments

The revisionist policy of the new US government, in particular, ensures that the investment climate in the renewable energy sector has cooled considerably in the US. The government under President Donald Trump had recently made headlines to reverse some of the laws of the Obama era, which dealt with climate protection and the national energy transition.

Experts agree that coal lover Trump will not be able to stop the energy transition in the US, but India and China are more exciting for investors at the moment. This is the result of the new RECAI ranking (= Renewable energy country attractiveness index) published by EY.

Ben Warren, EY Global Power & Utilities Corporate Finance Leader and RECAI Chief Editor, says: “Movements in the index illustrate the influence of policy on renewable energy investment and development – both productive and detrimental. Supportive policy and a long-term vision are critical to achieving a clean energy future.”

China announced in January 2017 that it intends to spend $ 363 billion on renewable energies by 2020. Half of all investments for new production capacities go into renewables and will create around 13 million jobs in the long term.

India continued its upward trend in the index, advances to second place and pushes the US to 3rd place. The Indian government has announced to create 175 GW of renewables until 2022. Over the last three years alone, more than 10GW of solar power have been built.

Warren says, “The renewable energy industry is beginning to break free of the shackles that have stalled progress in the past. More refined technology, lower costs and advances in battery storage are enabling more widespread investment and adoption of clean energy.”