Global solar capacity grew faster than fossil fuels in 2017, says report
For the first time in 2017, global solar capacity grew faster than all fossil fuels combined, including coal, oil and gas-fired power stations.
This is one finding of the latest annual report on global trends in renewable energy finance, from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
It shows renewables, excluding large hydro, made up three-fifths of net power capacity growth in 2017 and supplied a record 12 per cent share of global electricity generation.
Global renewable investment held steady, with falling costs ensuring the same money bought record levels of new capacity. Within that, developing nations, led by China, claimed an ever-larger share of the total as investment fell steeply in several European countries.
Solar record
One of the most striking findings in today’s report is that global solar capacity grew faster in 2017 than the combined total for all fossil fuels—coal, oil, gas—as the chart below shows.
Note that this chart shows net capacity growth, after accounting for power plants that have retired. This is particularly significant for coal, where 32 gigawatts (GW) closed in 2017 and for gas, which lost 16GW.
