New solar investment falls 12% as COVID-19 dents H1 2020 figures: BNEF

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Investment in solar capacity stood at US$54.7 billion in H1 2020. Image: Getty.

Investment in new solar capacity fell in the first half of 2020 by 12% year-on-year to US$54.7 billion as the COVID-19 pandemic hit both project financing and scheduled auctions.

New analysis from BloombergNEF showed that while total investment in new renewables rose by 5% in H1 2020, this was driven by a four-fold increase in offshore wind financing, which – at US$35 billion – saw more investment during the first six months of the year than it did in the entirety of 2019 (US$31.9 billion).

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Solar investment, while somewhat resilient in the face of what’s been described as the biggest economic shock to the power sector since the Great Depression of the 1930s, recorded a 12% fall year-on-year. Albert Cheung, head of analysis at BNEF, said it was expected that the pandemic would impact H1 investments due to delays to the financing process of new projects as well as postponements to specific auctions.

“There are signs of that in both solar and onshore wind, but the overall global figure has proved amazingly resilient – thanks to offshore wind.”

Brazil’s A-4 auction, which prompted bids from nearly 29GW of utility-scale solar, was postponed indefinitely as a result of the pandemic while Portugal pushed back its auction to last month, having originally intended to host the 700MW tender in late March.

There was brighter news for solar in BNEF’s analysis of public markets, however, with the two biggest deals in H1 2020 being the initial public offerings of JinkoPower Technology and Trina Solar, which raised US$366 million and US$359 million respectively.

Global investment in renewable energy capacity, by half year, $ billion. Image: BNEF.

BNEF’s analysis adds to a growing consensus that while there will be inevitable impacts on clean energy investment and deployment this year from the pandemic, they are more temporary than terminal and the sector has proven resilient.

In May, the International Energy Agency said that the crisis was “hurting but not halting” renewables as it revised its forecasts for the year, expecting ~90GW of solar to be deployed in 2020 against an original forecast of 106.4GW.  

Last week Mercom Capital’s analysis of corporate solar funding found that it had fallen by 25% year-on-year to US$4.5 billion in the first half of 2020, however chief executive Raj Prabhu said the impact “could have been worse” considering the nature of the pandemic and the scale of its impact on global economies.

21 May 2025
London, UK
The Renewables Procurement & Revenues Summit serves as the European platform for connecting renewable energy suppliers to the future of energy demand. This includes bringing together a community of European off-takers, renewable generators, utilities, asset owners, and financiers. The challenges ahead are complex, but through collaboration, innovation, and a shared vision, we can navigate uncertainties and forge a sustainable energy future. Let us harness our collective knowledge to advance the renewable energy agenda.
25 November 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Large Scale Solar Central and Eastern Europe continues to be the place to leverage a network that has been made over more than 10 years, to build critical partnerships to develop solar projects throughout the region.

Read Next

May 2, 2025
AEMO said that new renewable energy generation and energy storage projects in the final commissioning phase in the NEM have reached 7GW.
May 1, 2025
US tracker manufacturer FTC Solar has announced a 57.6% quarter-on-quarter increase in revenue in the first quarter of this year.
May 1, 2025
CSI Solar, the PV manufacturing subsidiary of Canadian Solar, has posted massively decreased profits in Q1 2025 amid what it described as “high trade barriers” and “severe supply-demand imbalances”.
April 30, 2025
Stonepeak has acquired a 46.3% stake in Repsol’s 777MW solar and storage portfolio currently in operation in New Mexico and Texas.
April 30, 2025
Spanish energy utility giant Iberdrola has reported huge profits of over €2 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
April 30, 2025
Daqo New Energy has posted gross losses of US$81.5 million, and a gross margin of -65.8% in the first quarter of 2025.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Media Partners, Solar Media Events
May 7, 2025
Munich, Germany
Solar Media Events
May 21, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK