Twin reports published by UNEP (prepared by Bloomberg New Energy Finance) and REN21 together give a comprehensive overview of the current status and recent trends of the global renewable energy industry.

REN21’s Renewables Global Status Report 2010 states that total hydropower capacity grew by 3% in 2009 to 980 GW, despite the economic difficulties. The sector’s absolute growth was second only to wind power. It estimates that between 2 to 4GW of small hydro (defined as <10MW here) were added during 2009, to reach a total capacity of 60GW; 33GW being in China and 12GW across EU countries, while India added more than 2.5GW of small hydro capacity in 2009. Renewable energy overall now supplies 19% of global final energy consumption. Over 100 countries (more than half the countries in the world) now have some type of renewable energy promotion policy or target.

UNEP’s Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2010 report shows that 2009 was a difficult year due to the banking crisis. New investment was down 7% from 2008 to $162 billion. However, that still represents the 2nd highest annual investment ever and quadruple the level invested in 2004. It also meant that spending on new renewable capacity exceeded the year’s investment in new fossil fuel capacity. Small hydro (<50MW here) saw an overall 9% fall in financial investment to $4 billion due to more cautious investors, but the sector continued to grow steadily, particularly in emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil and eastern Europe. China for the first time took the top spot globally for overall sustainable energy investment in 2009, followed by the US. With some $188 billion worth of ‘green stimulus’ commitments by governments and new pledges for $5 billion in development assistance for renewables in developing countries in 2009, the future outlook for renewable energy is promising.

Report Titles: ‘Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2010’ and ‘Renewables Global Status Report 2010’
Author: UNEP (prepared by Bloomberg New Energy Finance) and REN21, respectively
Date of Publication: July 2010
Link to Download: http://www.unep.org/sefi-ren21

Summaries and links to other recent external publications on areas relevant to IN-SHP’s activities can be found here:
http://www.inshp.org/publications.asp