Developing Economies Increasing their Share of Renewable Capacity

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reported this week that in 2014 developing nations attracted more investment in renewable power generation than developed economies, according to North American Wind and Power.

The story says that BNEF made the claim based on work done by Climatescope, an index used by the U.K., U.S. and the Inter-American Development Bank Group. The report also said that the 55 developing countries covered in the study received an all-time high of $126 billion in investments. That is up 39 percent — $35.5 billion – from 2013. China led the growth with 35 GW of renewable power generation which, the story points out, is more than the U.S., U.K. and France combined.

The ascendency of developing economies is nothing new. Two years ago, Frost & Sullivan released a report that said this sector would gradually increase its share of renewable capacity. The firm point said that from 2010 to 2015, European Union countries would represent 27.3 percent of global renewable energy capacity. From 2015 to 2020, that number would shrink to 20.7 percent.