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Green Globe: 29 countries invest more than $1B each in renewables in 2018

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China remains the top renewable investor, but many more countries are investing over a billion dollars in the industry per year.
Source: Associated Press

Renewable investment was spread more widely across the globe in 2018, although China still remains the biggest spender in the industry at $88.5 billion.

In 2018, 29 countries invested more than $1 billion each in renewables, according to a study commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme. That was an increase from 25 in 2017 and 21 in 2016.

Global renewable investment from 2010 to 2019 is set to reach $2.6 trillion, with solar as the leading technology choice, the U.N. report found. This investment will roughly quadruple renewable energy capacity, excluding large hydro, from 414 GW at the end of 2009 to just over 1,650 GW at the end of 2019.

Top investor China has committed $758 billion as of the first half of 2019. The U.S. and Japan placed second and third with investments of $356 billion and $202 billion, respectively.

According to the report, European nations invested $698 billion total over the same period, with Germany contributing the most at $179 billion.

"It is important to see renewables becoming first choice in many places," said Nils Stieglitz, president of Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. "But now we need to think beyond scaling-up renewables."

The U.K. could be moving closer to producing its first geothermal power, after initial drilling tests showed its viability.

Geothermal Energy Ltd. will continue testing at a deep well in Redruth, Cornwall through the first quarter of 2020, Bloomberg News reported Sept. 11. Construction of the site, which could supply as much as 3 GW, is expected to follow soon after.

The European Regional Development Fund provided $12.3 million to fund the geothermal research in Cornwall.

Gas supplied most of the electricity in the U.K. in 2017 at 40.4%. This was followed by nuclear at 20.8% and wind and solar at 18.2%, according to the U.K. National Statistics Authority.

Renewables has been increasing its share of generation in the country. Biofuels accounted for roughly two-thirds of renewable energy sources used, with most of the remainder coming from wind at 21%, solar at 5.2%, and heat pumps or deep geothermal at 5.2%.

Japanese oil company Cosmo Oil Co. Ltd. has submitted an environmental impact statement for a potential 1-GW offshore wind farm in Hokkaido, Renewables Now reported Sept. 10.

The company is currently projecting a turbine size of between 8 MW and 12 MW for the project, but that will ultimately depend on the choice of technology. According to the report, the company is still conducting marine geology surveys and studying the transmission line route.

In July, the Japanese government identified 11 areas that are suitable for offshore wind farm development. This followed the passage earlier in 2019 of a law to promote the use of its territorial waters for offshore wind facilities, according to Offshore WIND.

Elsewhere

* Hanwha Energy Corp. and Lumcloon Energy Ltd. have started constructing a 200-MW battery storage project in Ireland, pv magazine reported Sept. 10.

* Norway's Statkraft AS is the leading bidder for Continuum Wind Energy Pvt Ltd., an India-focused wind energy platform owned by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, Mint reported Sept. 8, citing people familiar with the development.

* DIF Capital Partners signed an agreement to acquire the 50-MW Cerro Grande wind farm in eastern Uruguay from ENERCON GmbH and eab New Energy GmbH. The deal is expected to close later in 2019.

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