Clean Energy Market Trends

Global CO2 emissions from energy rose less in 2023 than the year before even as total energy demand growth accelerated. The major expansion of technologies like solar, wind & EVs is limiting the increase in emissions & bringing them closer to a peak. More in new analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA) → https://iea.li/49RHNfw Much of the rise in CO2 emissions in 2023 came from an exceptional fall in hydropower due to extreme drought, with fossil fuels filling the gap. Without the unusual hydropower drop, global CO2 emissions from electricity generation would've declined: https://iea.li/3OYVAc0 In the last 10 years, the CO2 intensity of global GDP has fallen 20%, thanks to both the improvement in energy efficiency and the decline in emissions intensity of global energy supply. CO2 growth is therefore increasingly decoupling from GDP growth. The growth of clean energy technologies – including solar, wind and nuclear power – in recent years is having a significant impact on CO2 emissions. Without them, the rise in #emissions since 2019 would have been three times higher. Advanced economies saw a record decline in their #CO2 emissions in 2023 even as their GDP grew. With low-emissions sources now providing over half of their electricity generation, advanced economies' emissions have fallen back to their levels of 50 years ago. New IEA analysis shows that clean energy technologies provide clear opportunities to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels this decade. Wind & solar PV deployed in the last 5 years already avoid huge amounts of coal & gas demand annually. More in our Clean Energy Market Monitor: https://iea.li/3uZ9VOL Similarly, the deployment of electric cars over the last 5 years has ensured that global oil demand has remained below its pre-pandemic level in energy terms. Electric cars have so far cut about 1 million barrels of oil equivalent annually. Exacerbated by extreme weather, #coal accounted for 65% of the rise in global emissions from energy in 2023. This was driven by growing demand in emerging & developing economies, with the largest increase coming from China, which suffered from a record shortfall in hydropower. China also continues to play a huge role in the overall growth of clean energy. Globally, additions of solar grew by 85%, wind by 60% & electric cars by 35% in 2023 – but those of heat pumps fell somewhat, highlighting the importance of continued policy support for transitions. Find out more on these key #energy & #climate trends, plus IEA's role in shaping a secure & sustainable energy future 👇 · CO2 emissions report: https://iea.li/3OYVAc0 · Clean Energy Market Monitor: https://iea.li/3uZ9VOL · IEA Ministerial communique: https://iea.li/3P3Xbxn

Energy Transition Investment Trends 2026 is out - and it's a new record! At the start of each year, our team at BloombergNEF undertakes a thorough assessment of global energy transition investment - and this year's study feels more important than ever, after a year marked by policy and trade turmoil. The good news is that energy transition investment continues to grow, hitting $2.3 trillion in 2025 - a new record and up 8% year-on-year. Clean energy supply chain investment rose to $127 billion, climate-tech equity finance jumped more than 50% after several years of decline, and debt issuance for the transition climbed 17% to $1.2 trillion. These are all encouraging signs of resilience - and of course growth - in clean energy investment despite headwinds. But what really stands out to me is that we have a series of findings that run counter to today's dominant narratives, for example: We find that EVs are now clearly the leading clean-tech sector, at $893 billion in 2025, up $152 billion year-on-year despite repeated media warnings of a slowdown. We also find that the EU was responsible for the largest chunk of global growth in 2025: up 18% to $455 billion in aggregate across the ten clean-energy sectors tracked. This despite repeated warnings that Europe is falling behind. UK investment jumped 36%. In the US, overall energy transition investment rose 3.5% to $378 billion even as key support mechanisms were removed. Renewables only dipped slightly, EVs rose modestly and power grid investment accelerated. Renewable energy investment in China dropped in 2025 due to new power market reforms, which led to an overall global reduction in renewable energy investment, and brought China's aggregate energy transition investment total down year-on-year, for the first time since 2013. For us, these findings underscore the complexity of the energy transition, and the need to look beyond the noise to see what's really happening in markets around the world. Congratulations to all of the 70+ BNEF staff who worked together on this project, especially Yushan Z. and Meredith Annex for their leadership. BNEF clients can find all the reports and data on the platform; all others can view the highlights here: https://lnkd.in/ekBSskf4

Renewables and nuclear met nearly half of global energy demand growth in 2024 — a turning point that carries significant implications for companies and investors alike. According to the latest Global Energy Review (IEA), renewables supplied 38% and nuclear 8% of the growth in energy demand last year. In other words, nearly half of the additional energy the world required was delivered without adding to carbon emissions. What has driven this shift? →Policy and Regulation: Major economies have accelerated support for clean energy through mechanisms such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the European Green Deal, unlocking substantial investment. →Cost Competitiveness: Renewables, particularly solar and wind, have become the most cost-effective sources of new electricity generation in many regions. The commercial case is now as strong as the environmental one. →Energy Security: Recent geopolitical tensions have underlined the strategic importance of domestic and diversified energy systems, leading many countries to fast-track renewables and nuclear. →Corporate Demand: The rise of corporate power purchase agreements and the proliferation of net-zero commitments have significantly boosted private sector demand for clean energy. Why does this matter for companies? →Decarbonisation is no longer peripheral — it is becoming integral to competitiveness. Companies that continue to depend on fossil fuels risk exposure to volatile prices, regulatory tightening, and reputational damage. →Early movers will secure cost advantages, supply chain resilience, and preferential access to capital. Clean energy is increasingly recognised not just as a sustainability issue but as a strategic and financial one. →The direction of travel is clear. Investors, regulators, and customers expect credible decarbonisation strategies, and those who deliver will differentiate themselves. Evidently the shift to renewables and nuclear is a commercial and competitive reality. Further resources to consider: https://lnkd.in/dasZ6qFw https://lnkd.in/dY_F2Dna https://lnkd.in/dseEXjtw #energytransition #decarbonisation #sustainability #netzero #climatestrategy #businessstrategy

"Energy Transition Investment Trends 2025: Tracking Global Investment in the Low-Carbon Transition" by BloombergNEF Global Investment Overview • Total Investment: Reached a record $2.08 trillion in 2024, growing 11% year-over-year, though the growth rate slowed compared to previous years (24-29% in 2021-2023). • Key Sectors: •> Electrified Transport: $757 billion (+20% YoY). •> Renewable Energy: $728 billion (+8% YoY). •> Power Grids: $390 billion (+15% YoY). •> Energy Storage: $54 billion (+36% YoY). • Declining Sectors: •> Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS): $6.1 billion (-50%). •> Hydrogen: $8.4 billion (-42%). •> Clean Industry: $27.8 billion (-50%). •> Electrified Heat: $77 billion (-5.2%). •> Nuclear: $34.2 billion (flat). • Regional Investments: •> China led with $818 billion (+20% YoY), accounting for two-thirds of global investment growth. •> U.S. stable at $338 billion. •> EU & UK declined to $381 billion and $65.3 billion respectively. •> India grew 13% to $47 billion, while Canada rose 19% to $35 billion. Clean Energy Supply Chain Investment • Total Investment: $140 billion in 2024 (slight decline YoY). • Sector Breakdown: •> Solar, Battery, Electrolyzer, Wind Equipment: Oversupply causing investment slowdowns. •> Future Outlook: Expected to rise to $164 billion in 2025. •> China’s Dominance: 81% of global clean energy supply chain investment in 2024. Climate-Tech Equity Finance • Total Equity Raised: $50.7 billion (-40% YoY, third consecutive decline). • Key Sectors: Clean power and transport led with $31.8 billion. • Public vs. Private Funding: •> IPO Funding: $6.2 billion (-85% from 2021). •> Private Placements & Secondary Offerings: More resilient, especially in the U.S. and India. • Market Trends: AI startups absorbed investor attention, reducing climate-tech venture funding. Energy Transition Debt Issuance • Total Issuance: $1.06 trillion in 2024 (+3% YoY). • Largest Issuers: •> Corporate Debt: +5% due to interest rate cuts. •> Government Energy Transition Debt: Stable. •> Regions: U.S. and China expanded debt issuance, while Europe (-7%) and Africa & the Middle East (-35%) declined. • Sectoral Breakdown: •> Renewable Energy: $206.2 billion (+5%). •> Energy Storage: $75.2 billion (+8%). •> Hydrogen: $45.7 billion (+39%). •> Power Grids: $65.9 billion (-16%). •> Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS): $24.8 billion (+33%). Investment Outlook & Net Zero Goals • Required Investment for Net Zero 2050: •> $5.6 trillion annually (2025-2030) (168% more than 2024). •> $7.6 trillion annually (2031-2035) (3.6× 2024 levels). • Biggest Investment Gaps: •> Electrified Transport: Needs to quadruple to $3 trillion per year. •> Renewables & Power Grids: Need 58% increase. The global energy transition investment set new records in 2024, but growth slowed. While mature sectors like electrified transport, renewables, and power grids continue expanding, emerging technologies (CCS, hydrogen, and clean industry) face significant hurdles.

$2.3 trillion invested in the energy transition in 2025 🌍 According to a research report published by BloombergNEF, $2.3 trillion were invested in the energy transition in 2025. This represents an 8% increase compared to the previous year, achieved despite trade disruptions, geopolitical tension, and policy uncertainty. Clean energy supply chain investment reached $127 billion, climate tech equity returned to growth with a 53% jump, and energy transition debt issuance climbed to $1.2 trillion. All major capital flows moved upward in the same year, highlighting the resilience of the transition. The distribution of capital tells the real story. Electrified transport is now the largest investment area, with $893 billion directed to electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. Renewable energy followed with $690 billion, led by solar, although investment declined as power market reforms in China slowed activity. At the same time, investment in power grids increased 17% to $483 billion, reflecting growing pressure from electrification, renewables, and data center demand. Clean energy deployment is no longer the main constraint. System capacity is. Technology signals are also shifting. Investment declined in hydrogen and nuclear, while energy storage, carbon capture, electrified heat, clean shipping, and clean industry all continued to grow from smaller bases. Capital is becoming more selective, prioritizing scalability and near term impact over long term optionality. Regionally, momentum is becoming more fragmented. China remained the largest market at $800 billion, but recorded its first investment decline since 2013. The European Union grew 18% to $455 billion, contributing the most to global growth, while US investment increased 3.5% despite political headwinds. Growth is spreading across markets, but at uneven speed. One final signal stands out. Energy transition investment now exceeds fossil fuel capital expenditure, yet growth has slowed from 27% in 2021 to 8% in 2025. BloombergNEF estimates that $2.9 trillion per year on average will be required between 2026 and 2030. The challenge ahead is not access to capital. It is grids, supply chains, and the ability to deploy at scale. Source: BloombergNEF, Energy Transition Investment Trends 2026

IEA: Solar Overtakes All Energy Sources In A Major Global First Electrek April 19, 2026 Global energy demand rose 1.3% in 2025, below the decade average and down from 2024, due to weaker growth, milder weather, and efficiency gains. In contrast, electricity demand surged ~3%, more than twice as fast and still above long-term trends. Solar led global energy supply growth for the first time, accounting for 25%+ of the increase. Natural gas followed at 17%. Renewables + nuclear met ~60% of demand growth, and clean electricity generation exceeded total electricity demand growth—fully covering the increase. Electrification is accelerating across EVs, buildings, industry, and data centers. Oil demand grew just 0.7%, held back by EVs. EV sales rose 20%+ to 20M+ vehicles, ~25% of global new car sales, beginning to materially reduce gasoline and diesel demand. Coal trends diverged: down in China, up in the U.S. due to gas switching. Overall growth slowed. Global energy-related CO₂ rose ~0.4%: • China declined • India flat (first time since 1970s, excluding pandemic) • Advanced economies +0.5% vs. +0.3% emerging—a reversal not seen since the 1990s Power sector milestones: • Solar +600 TWh (largest annual increase ever for any technology) • Battery storage +110 GW (fastest-growing, exceeding any gas additions on record) • Nuclear: 12+ GW new construction Since 2019, clean technologies now avoid fossil fuel use equal to Latin America’s total energy demand annually. They also displace gas equal to ~50% of global LNG exports. Regionally: • U.S.: among strongest demand growth this century, driven by data centers, industry, colder winter • China: largest contributor, but slowed to 1.7% with efficiency + renewables What This Means — Electricity is becoming the backbone of the global energy system. Solar now leads supply growth, clean power is meeting incremental demand, and electrification is accelerating. The transition remains uneven—but the structural direction is clear: rising electricity demand, rapid clean energy deployment, and growing pressure on fossil fuels, especially in transport. Article: https://lnkd.in/enH47P7t IEA Global Energy Review 2026: https://lnkd.in/etbJwQyf

This report by Reuters highlights a significant trend: in 2025, U.S. capacity for solar, wind, and battery storage is projected to grow by about 7% year-over-year, marking the smallest expansion in over a decade. What’s particularly striking is the geographic shift: while California and Texas, traditionally the clean energy powerhouses, are experiencing below-average growth (around 8%), other states such as Arizona, Indiana, and Ohio are stepping up, helping to extend the clean energy transition into new regions. What’s driving this shift? -- Battery storage leads the way: Battery deployment has increased by 22% year over year, with Nevada, Idaho, and Massachusetts utilizing storage to stabilize solar and wind energy. -- Solar rebounds in emerging markets: Despite growth slowing to 10% in early 2025, developers plan to install 33 GW of new solar capacity this year, led by Texas (9.7 GW) and states like Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, Florida, and New York (each adding over 1 GW). -- Policy frameworks paving the way: Illinois, Maryland, and Minnesota are driving growth with strong standards; Illinois through community solar programs, Maryland with offshore wind, demonstrating that state policies can maintain momentum. This evolving dynamic highlights three key points for businesses and policymakers: the importance of resilience through diversification. 1.    Resilience through diversification: As major markets slow, emerging states are playing an increasingly important role in driving clean energy capacity, and policy clarity matters. For example, battery storage is unlocking new opportunities—especially in states with intermittent renewables. 2.    Policy clarity matters: The slowdown aligns with aggressive cuts in supportive incentives since early 2025, highlighting the delicate balance between policy environment and sector confidence. 3.    Policy catalyzes expansion: States with pro-renewable policies, infrastructure, and incentives are demonstrating that even when federal support recedes, local frameworks can sustain momentum. As we advance, industry stakeholders have both an opportunity and a responsibility to nurture this expanding footprint, ensuring capacity growth not only continues but accelerates in all parts of the country. What are your thoughts? Is your State stepping up? https://lnkd.in/ga98wh5f

🌍 The 2025 World Energy Outlook from the International Energy Agency (IEA) is out! This is always one of my favorite big reports of the year as it really shows the status of the energy sector, key trends and developments, and the implications for the transition and net zero as well as security and investment. Here are my five takeaways from this year’s edition: 1. The transition continues even amid policy divergence Despite the U.S. quitting the Paris Agreement, clean energy momentum remains strong. Renewables set deployment records for the 23rd consecutive year, with solar and wind now meeting most new global demand growth. China, India, and emerging economies continue to drive expansion, while investment in renewables and electrification now accounts for half of global energy investment. 2. The future is electric and bigger than data centers Electricity demand is rising 40–50% by 2035 in all IEA scenarios. Electrification of transport, heating, and industry dwarfs the growth from AI and data centers, which account for less than 10% of new demand. The real challenge is grids: generation investment has surged 70% since 2015, but grid spending lags far behind, creating congestion and slowing connections. 3. Critical minerals are the new oil- to China’s benefit China now refines 19 of 20 strategic energy minerals, averaging 70% global market share, and over half face export controls. The IEA warns that supply concentration, not just fuel dependency, is the next major energy security risk. Diversification and resilience are imperatives for clean energy supply chains. 4. The fossil fuel peak is near, but not near enough Coal and oil demand likely peak before 2030, yet gas continues to rise into the 2030s. Without a rapid and sustained fall in fossil fuel use, global emissions stay far above Paris goals. The IEA projects around 2.5°C of warming under current policies, and overshoot of 1.5°C is now inevitable, even in the Net Zero scenario. 5. If policies stay strong, we will see rapid decarbonization Achieving climate goals depends not just on scaling renewables but on phasing out fossil fuels. Efficiency improvements, faster permitting, stronger grid investment, and transition finance for emerging markets remain essential. The IEA underscores that the tools are known, we just need the market certainty that good policy provides. More to come on the financial and investor implications of the report’s trends for Newsletter subscribers next week! ➡️ Full report here: https://lnkd.in/eRgf45-P #energy #transition #climate #iea #netzero #renewables #electricity #fossilfuels #criticalminerals #electrification #batteries #policy

Global #energytransition investment reached a new record of $2.3 trillion, up 8% from 2024, underscoring continued momentum despite market and policy uncertainty. Key highlights from 2025: (1) Electrified transport led investment at $893bn (2) #Renewable energy followed at $690bn (3) Grids attracted $483bn (4) Data centers drew close to $0.5tn, surpassing #solar in scale and reflecting the rising energy demands of digitalization and #AI. For the second consecutive year, #cleanenergy supply investment exceeded #fossilfuel supply, with the gap widening to $102bn. Notably, fossil fuel supply investment declined by $9bn - the first drop since 2020 - driven by reduced spending on upstream oil and gas and fossil-fuel-based power generation. That said, the transition remains uneven. Renewable energy investment fell 9.5% year-on-year, largely due to regulatory uncertainty in China, the world’s largest power market, highlighting how policy signals continue to shape capital flows. On the financing side, energy transition debt issuance rose to $1.2 trillion, up 17% year-on-year, supported by strong growth in corporate and project finance (both up c20%). This offset a slowdown in government-labelled debt as mature sectors like renewables saw scaled-back issuance. Bottom line: Capital is clearly shifting, but the pace and direction of the transition remain highly sensitive to regulation, infrastructure readiness, and demand growth. The challenge now is converting record investment into durable, system-wide transformation. #EnergyTransition #CleanEnergy #SustainableFinance #NetZero #ClimateInvestment #EnergyMarkets #Infrastructure https://lnkd.in/d2g2D_yH