Over $755 billion invested in energy transition in 2021

As shown in the new report "Energy Transition Investment Trends 2022," prepared by analysts at BloombergNEF, global investments in the energy transition in 2021 amounted to approximately US$ 755 billion (about 675 billion euros). This is a year-on-year increase of more than 27 percent. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for almost half of the global investment (US$ 368 billion), an increase of 38 percent. China was once again the country with the largest investment volume worldwide, with US$ 266 billion (238 billion euros), followed by the United States in second place with US$ 114 billion (102 billion euros).

In its calculations, BNEF records money invested by companies, financial institutions, governments, and end users in the fields of renewable energy, hydrogen, energy storage, e-transport, electrified heat, carbon capture and storage as well as nuclear energy. According to the report, analysts recorded growth in all areas except carbon capture and storage for 2021. The largest area of investment continues to be renewable energies with US$ 366 billion (327 billion euro). Here, investments grew by 6.5 percent in 2021.

Even though the high growth rates are a clear sign that the energy transition is picking up speed, experts estimate that global investment will need to triple in the coming years to meet the climate targets of the international community.

Sources: 

pv-magazine, article by Ralph Diermann (1/27/2022):

https://www.pv-magazine.de/2022/01/27/bnef-weltweit-wurden-2021-insgesamt-755-milliarden-us-dollar-in-die-globale-energiewende-investiert/, accessed: 2/3/2022 at 8:30 a.m.

https://www.energiezukunft.eu/wirtschaft/weltweit-wachsende-investitionen-in-energiewende/, accessed: 2/3/2022 at 9:15 a.m.