Renewables 2020 – Global status report

The report brings together all the latest information about renewable energy market and industry developments, policy and investment trends.

The report brings together all the latest information about renewable energy market and industry developments, policy and investment trends.

 

Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment (GTR) is an annual report jointly prepared by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance, BloombergNEF and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment grew out of efforts to track and publish comprehensive information about international investments in renewable energy.

 

The 2020 edition of the GTR explores the most recent developments, signs and signals in the financing of renewable power and fuels. Information is presented by type of investment, technology and economy. It also provides an outlook on financing trends for the next decade. Together with REN21’s annual Renewables Global Status Report (GSR), these two publications provide a comprehensive overview of developments in the renewable energy sector. The 2020 GTR edition was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

 

Renewable energy had another record-breaking year in 2019i, as installed power capacity grew more than 200 gigawatts (GW) – its largest increase ever. Capacity installations and investment continued to spread to all corners of the world and distributed renewable energy systems provided additional households in developing and emerging countries with access to electricity and clean cooking services. Also, during the year, the private sector signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for a record amount of renewable power capacity, driven mainly by ongoing cost reductions in some technologies. Shares of renewables in electricity generation continued to rise around the world. In some countries, the share of renewables in heating, cooling and transport also grew, although these sectors continued to lag far behind due to insufficient policy support and slow developments in new technologies. This resulted in only a moderate increase in the overall share of renewables in total final energy consumption (TFEC), despite significant progress in the power sector.