Investors bet on renewable energies

Entrepreneurs around the world are looking to renewable energies as strategic investments that would not only generate environmental benefits but, in turn, will provide high equity and financial returns. It is estimated that at the end of this decade this industry could reach $2.6 billion, says Gustavo Copelmayer, basing this data on a report published by the United Nations Environmental Organization. Renewable energy capacity – excluding large hydroelectric plants – will have quadrupled – from 414 gigawatts to 1,650 gigawatts by the end of this decade.

Gustavo Copelmayer states that solar energy alone attracted some $1,300 million, half of all investments. It is also important to note that stock market firms see solar energy shares or funds as a promising resource.

At the end of 2019, installed capacity grew by an estimated 663 gigawatts, enough to power approximately 100 million average homes in the United States for one year. For its part, renewable energy generated 12.9% of electricity in 2018, up from 11.6% in 2017, which means that it is a sector in constant growth, argues Gustavo Copelmayer and adds that these investments avoided around 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2019, a substantial savings, given that global emissions from the electricity sector in 2018 reached 13.7 billion tons.

The cost competitiveness of renewables also increased dramatically in the last decade. “The investments made in this sector of renewable energy translate into a sustainable and profitable future, as shown by the figures achieved during this last decade of incredible growth”, says Gustavo Copelmayer.

China has been the largest investor in renewable energy capacity during this decade, with a balance of $758 billion between 2010 and the first half of 2019, followed by Japan with $202 billion.