PARIS: A Chinese boom in solar panel installation last year helped drive global investment in renewable clean energy technology to record levels, a new study showed Tuesday.

After a dip in 2016, overall global investment in the sector rose 3.0pc to a total $333.5bn, offsetting falls in Japan, Germany and Britain, according to the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) study. That was the second best annual showing to date after $360.3bn in 2015.

“The 2017 total is all the more remarkable when you consider that capital costs for the leading technology - solar - continue to fall sharply,” said BNEF chief executive Jon Moore.

Solar investment came in at $160.8bn in 2017, a rise of 18pc despite per megawatt capital costs falling by around a quarter, with China accounting for around half the overall total at $86.5bn - up 24pc, the study said.

“China installed about 20GW more solar capacity in 2017 than we forecast,” said Justin Wu, BNEF head of the Asia-Pacific region, as the Chinese notably showed off the world’s first photovoltaic expressway. Investment in wind power slipped back 12pc last year, however, to $107.2bn after a strong rise in 2016.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2018