Page 13 - AsiaElec Week 47 2022

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

US, China are most attractive

nations for renewable energy

investment: EY

CHINA THE US and China are this year topping Ernst timeframe. And Indonesia is a new entrant into
& Young’s (EY) new biannual Renewable Energy the top 40 following new legislation to encourage
Country Attractiveness Index. renewable use.
The US is most attractive because of its pas- “The transition to renewable energy has
sage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in become even more urgent amid soaring gas
August, which extends tax credits for wind prices, geopolitical tensions, supply chain short-
and solar projects and which instates tax cred- ages and extreme weather events,” said EY.
its for domestic manufacturing of clean energy “More regulatory support is needed across
components. the board,” said the report, adding that cyber-se-
In second place, China remains committed to curity must be tightened.
accelerating its renewable energy transition as it The geopolitics for renewable energy are
seeks to bring emissions to a peak by 2030 and “volatile and uncertain,” said the report. Energy
achieve net-zero emissions by 2060, said EY. prices have soared since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Germany climbs one place to third position In response, Russia has weaponised energy,
as the renewables sector, boosted by its Easter while nations have accelerated their renewables
package commitment, is expected to triple its roll-outs to bolster energy independence.
expansion within a decade. The package of Western renewables equipment manufac-
energy reforms was adopted in July. turers also face strong competition from China,
The UK, having lost its top ranking for while commodities prices – such as steel – have
installed offshore wind capacity this year to soared, labour costs are high and supply chain
China, has moved down one spot to fourth, bottlenecks are unpredictable.
noted EY. However, the country does boast EY Global Power & Utilities corporate
a large pipeline, with offshore wind featured finance leader Ben Warren said: “Energy tran-
prominently in the government’s energy strategy. sition remains at the top of the agenda for gov-
The Netherlands has entered the top 10 of the ernment and business, made all the more urgent
index with its ambitious clean energy agenda, in light of the significant challenges facing the
which includes a 70-GW offshore wind target global energy market. This is reflected in the
by 2050. Other notable markets include Greece, remarkable commitments made across global
with a “very strong performance” driven by markets to drive uptake of renewable energy
new targets of 15 GW of new clean energy by sources and reduce reliance on gas imports.”™
2030 and 2 GW of offshore wind in the same

Week 47 22•November•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P13