According to a trade body representing the renewable energy business, funding for the sector witnessed a dramatic increase in the year after President Biden’s signature on a significant climate, tax, and health care measure.
According to a recent American Clean Power Association analysis, we have witnessed more than $270 billion in capital investments this past year, more than the total amount invested over the previous eight years.
It found 83 facility announcements for renewable energy production, including 52 solar manufacturing plants, 14 battery manufacturing projects, and 11 wind energy production facilities. The regions where Republicans are in control reaped the most benefits from the investments.
Over 60% of the manufacturing facilities that have been announced are being constructed in red states, he noted, and 80% of clean power projects are being developed in districts represented by Republicans.
Tax incentives for renewable energy sources like wind and solar were included in the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act, prompting investment. The measure is the result of negotiations between Senate Democrats and Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia). It received zero Republican support.
Meanwhile, in Europe, an examination of international statistics reveals that the United Kingdom’s investment in renewable energy has fallen far behind that of the rest of the world in recent years.
In contrast to the worldwide average yearly rise of 9.67%, the latest government numbers show that the UK’s renewable capacity has plummeted to an average increase of 4.45% in the last three years.
The report was commissioned after the government declared its intention to grant over a hundred additional oil and gas licenses.
Total renewable capacity in the UK increased by 1.96 percent in 2020, 3.65 percent in 2021, and 7.74 percent in 2022, for an annualized rate of only 4.45 percent. This is much lower than the 24.2 percent increase seen in 2015.
Growth in renewable capacity in the rest of the globe was far more significant than in the UK during the last three years. The expansion of renewable power was 10.3 percent in 2020, 9.1 percent in 2021, and 9.6 percent in 2022. Compared to the UK, this annual growth rate is 9.67%.
RenewableUK, a prominent non-profit energy trade organization, has urged the government to create a strategy to compete in the renewables sector, now dominated by the European Union and the United States.
