The latest Ernst & Young Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness indices see China climbing three points in the “all renewables” index to tie with Germany, following the Chinese government’s announcements of increased support for solar panel based energy production.
Chinese 2020 targets for solar power have risen to 9GW, which is 75 times the current solar capacity of about 120MW. Chinese wind power capacity is also rapidly building after the recent increased capacity targets of 100GW by 2020.
Even with the recent news of an expanded Renewable Energy Target for Australia, Ernst & Young are not anticipating a significant shift in Australia’s global position.
The expanded RET translates into 10.6 GW of new generation capacity by 2020, assuming a capacity factor of 35%. However, the current development pipeline for wind alone already has >14,000 GW of projects projects either at the evaluation stage (exploring feasibility), development stage (seeking planning approvals), or under construction. According to the company, this suggests that legislation is merely playing ‘catch-up’ with the renewable energy investment market.
Ernst and Young Renewables Index August 2009 Ranking:
( ) figure indicates previous ranking.
1 (1) – US
2 (2) – Germany
2 (3) – China
4 (4) – India
5 (5) – Spain
6 (6) – Italy
7 (7) – UK
7 (8) – France
9 (9) – Canada
10 (9) – Portugal
11 (11) – Ireland
12 (12) – Greece
13 (12) – Australia
13 (14) – Sweden
15 (15) – Netherlands
15 (15) – Poland
17 (17) – Denmark
17 (17) – Belgium
17 (17) – Norway
20 (20) – Brazil
The Renewables Index includes onshore wind, offshore wind, solar, biomass/other, geothermal and infrastructure. The Ernst & Young country attractiveness indices provide scores for national renewable energy markets, renewable energy infrastructures and their suitability for individual technologies. The indices provide scores out of 100 and are updated on a regular basis.
