China and India top the renewable energy attractiveness index

China and India have overtaken the U.S. to become the two most attractive nations for renewable energy investment – according to a report released on Tuesday 16 May.

The report by UK accountancy firm Ernst & Young detailed that both China and India have overtaken the U.S. on the EY Renewable energy country attractiveness index (RECAI) – displacing the U.S. for the first time since 2015.

The U.S. now stands at third place behind first place China, followed by India.

Ben Warren, EY Global Power & Utilities Corporate Finance Leader and RECAI Chief Editor, said: “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.” 

At the beginning of 2017, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) announced the nation will invest around $361 billion in renewable energy generation by 2020.

The investment will see renewables share in the country’s power mix increase to 50 per cent in addition to creating 13 million jobs – the NEA said.  

According to a report released last month, China’s wind and solar energy sectors could receive up to $782 billion in investments from 2016 to 2030.

In 2016, China’s solar capacity grew an impressive 81.6 per cent to 77.4 gigawatts (GW), while wind power grew 13.2 per cent from 2015 to 2016 to 149 GW.

In India, the Government plans to develop 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and to have renewable energy account for 40 per cent of installed capacity by 2040.

India added a record wind and solar energy capacity, both exceeding 5,000 megawatts (MW), from 2016 to 2017. 

India has now surpassed the 10 gigawatt (GW) solar photovoltaic (PV) installation milestone, having tripled its capacity in less than three years, according Indian Minister Piyush Goyal.

The report highlighted that economically viable renewable energy alternatives coupled with security of supply concerns are encouraging more nations to transition to a cleaner energy future.

In addition, Kazakhstan (37), Panama (38) and the Dominican Republic (39) have all entered the index for the first time.

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