IEA Energy Investment Report 2017 published
The International Energy Agency published the 2017 Energy Investment Report on 11 July (IEA Summary, Press Note). Reuters report that ‘Investments in electricity surpassed those in oil and gas for the first time ever in 2016 on a spending splurge on renewable energy and power grids as the fall in crude prices led to deep cuts’. … ‘Although renewables investments was 3 percent lower than five years ago, capacity additions were 50 percent higher and expected output from this capacity about 35 percent higher, thanks to the fall in unit costs and technology improvements in solar PV and wind generation, the IEA said.’ CNBC quote IEA that “falling investment points to a risk of market tightness and undercapacity at some point down the line” and that investment in oil and gas exploration and production fell by 26 percent to $650 billion in 2016.
Carbon Brief focus on ‘Seven charts show why the IEA thinks coal investment has already peaked’ writing that ‘global investment in coal-fired power plants is set to decline “dramatically” after passing an all-time high during the past several years, says the International Energy Agency (IEA).’ They highlight that in 2016 global energy investment in renewables overtook oil and gas, in the graph below:
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