Renewable Investments Fall in Emerging Markets

New energy investment in emerging economies slipped last year to $133 billion, far from the 2017 record of $169 billion, mostly due to a slowdown in China, BloombergNEF said in its annual Climatescope report.  
China, because of is massive share in new clean energy investments globally, was responsible for the majority of the decline in investments, according to BloombergNEF’s findings, Oil Price reported.
Investment in new-build solar, wind, biomass, wind, small hydro, geothermal, and biofuels capacity in China fell to $86 billion in 2018 from $122 billion in 2017, the report showed. 
Other major markets, including India and Brazil, also saw annual declines in new clean energy investments, BloombergNEF said.  
After three years of solar dominance in new clean energy investments, wind took over last year and accounted for 51% of total investments in 2018 compared to 47% for solar.
China shocked the market in June 2018 by announcing that it would not issue approvals for any new solar power installations in 2018 and would also cut subsidies.
The major shift in Chinese solar policies led to a marked slowdown in investments in new capacity.
Excluding China, India, and Brazil, clean energy investment in emerging markets rose in 2018 to a record $34 billion, from $30 billion in 2017, according to BloombergNEF.
Although new construction of coal-fired power plants in emerging markets dropped to the lowest level in a decade, coal-fired power generation jumped by 7% in 2018 compared to 2017—the highest annual rise since 2013, the report noted.