Clean energy investments to grow by $1.6 Trillion through 2020

Investments in new clean energy capacity will total $1.61 trillion through 2020, the International Energy Agency said.

Funding for power generation from wind, solar radiation and biomass will average $230 billion a year from $250 billion in 2013 due to fall in technology costs and losing of growth pace.

Renewables will account for about 26 percent of global electricity generation from about 22 percent, by the end of 2023.

Constraints in China include a lack of spending on the electricity networks and the cost and availability of financing, the IEA said.

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For Europe, the investors face uncertainty over renewables policy post-2020 and the installation of a pan-European grid to ease the integration of clean-energy plants.

Anyway, the expansion of renewables is expected to face a slow growth through these years.

The expansion will slow over the next five years unless lawmakers provide clear conditions that enable investments, the IEA said.

Policy uncertainty will be a key challenge to renewable deployment. Unanticipated changes to incentive schemes poise a risk that investors cannot manage leading to high financing costs with variations in development patterns.

During slower growth, there will not be enough renewable capacity to meet global climate-protection objectives. Politicians worried about the cost of deploying renewables should think again, said, Maria van der Hoeven, executive director, IEA.

Renewables are a necessary part of energy security. Many renewables no longer need high incentive levels. Rather, given their capital-intensive nature, renewables require a market context that assures a reasonable and predictable return for investors, added Hoeven.

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