The International Energy Agency (IEA) is forecasting that investment in solar will rise to more than $1-billion a day, or to some $380-billion for 2023 as a whole, increasing spending on the renewable technology to above upstream oil for the first time ever.
The agency’s World Energy Investment also indicates that more than $1.7-trillion of the $2.8-trillion to be invested in energy globally this year, will be directed towards clean technologies, including renewables, electric vehicles, nuclear, grids, storage, low-emission fuels, efficiency improvements and heat pumps.
The balance will be invested in coal, gas and oil, with spending on upstream oil and gas expected to rise by 7% in 2023, taking it back to 2019 levels.
“Clean energy is moving fast – faster than many people realise,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol says.
“For every dollar invested in fossil fuels, about 1.7 dollars are now going into clean energy,” he added, noting that five years ago the ratio was one-to-one.
“One shining example is investment in solar, which is set to overtake the amount of investment going into oil production for the first time.”
Led by solar, the IEA report states that low-emissions electricity technologies are expected to account for almost 90% of investment in power generation.
Investment in cleaner technologies has been boosted, the agency adds, by increased government support and volatile fossil fuel prices that raised concerns about energy security, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Nevertheless, spending is concentrated in developed economies and China, with investment in many developing countries being held back by factors such as higher interest rates, unclear policy frameworks and market designs, weak grid infrastructure, financially strained utilities, and a high cost of capital.
“The crucial open question is how quickly clean energy investment scales up in emerging and developing economies, where supportive strategies and policies will need to be accompanied by improved access to finance.”