Solar power to lead RE investment growth

Grid investments will reach $400b in 2024.

The solar power sector is expected to lead the growth of renewable energy globally with investment in solar photovoltaics projected to reach $500b in 2024 driven by the declining cost of module prices.

“More money is now going into solar PV than all other electricity generation technologies combined,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a statement.

Solar power, along with lithium batteries and electric vehicles, were expected to drive strong demand for clean energy investment in China which is estimated to reach $675b, the largest globally.

Meanwhile, global upstream oil and gas investment will rise 7% to $570b, mainly driven by national oil firms in the Middle East and Asia, the IEA said, adding that it is “broadly aligned with the demand levels implied in 2030 by today’s policy settings.”

Clean energy investments made by oil and gas companies reached $30b in 2023, representing 4% of the overall capital spending, whilst coal investment is increasing with over 50 gigawatts of unabated coal-fired power approved during the same period which is the highest since 2015.

Grid investment is expected to hit $400b in 2024 after remaining stagnant at around $300b annually between 2015 and 2021.

Battery storage investments are expected to reach $24b this year, the IEA said but flagged that it will be highly concentrated in advanced markets.

“For every dollar invested in battery storage in advanced economies and China, only one cent was invested in other emerging and developing economies,” IEA said.