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Global renewable investments soared by 17% in 2014 to US$270bn

According to the UNEP's annual "Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investments", global investments in renewable energy projects rose by 17% in 2014 to US$270bn, after two years of decline; this is only 3% below the all-time record of US$279bn in 2011. The decrease in renewable investments in 2012 (US$256bn) and 2013 (US$232bn) is mainly linked to lower prices due to economies of scale. Renewable capacity additions continued to increase, from 81 GW in 2011 to 86 GW in 2013 and 103 GW in 2014, which represents the entire nuclear fleet in the United States. The UNEP report estimates at 9% the share of renewables in global power generation in 2014.

Renewable investments were pulled by solar projects in China and Japan and by offshore wind projects in Europe. In China, renewable investments soared by 39% to US$83.3bn, twice the renewable investments of the United States (US$38.3bn, +7%) or Japan (US$35.7bn, +10%). Investments in solar power rose by 25% to US$149.6bn (+46 GW installed during the year), while wind investments rose by 11% to a record US$99.5bn (+49 GW). Of this, offshore wind attracted US$18.6bn of investments, including US$16.2bn in Europe and US$2.4bn in China.

This increase in renewable investments remains dependent on support policies in Europe, with Germany and the United Kingdom moving away from feed-in tariffs and green certificates, to implement reverse auctions and subsidy cap. Retroactive policies in southern Europe (Spain, Italy) is also limiting investors's interests. Uncertainties over the future of the Production Tax Credit for wind also dampens prospects for the renewable sector in the United States.

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