The latest report of BNEF shows that although the Covid-19 pandemic has caused economic damage, the global investment in energy transformation reached a record $501.3 billion in 2020, an increase of 9% over the previous year.

According to the report, thanks to the construction of the largest solar energy project in history and the investment of nearly $50 billion in offshore wind power, the government, enterprises and households invested $303.5 billion dollars in new renewable energy capacity in 2020, an increase of 2% year on year, and the investment in electric vehicles and related charging infrastructure reached $139 billion, an increase of 28% year on year.

In addition to renewable energy, investment in energy transformation has also performed well in other areas. For example, the newly installed high-efficiency and energy-saving heat pump reached $50.8 billion, an increase of 12%, while the investment in fixed energy storage technologies such as batteries was $3.6 billion, basically the same as that in 2019.

Global investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) has tripled to $3 billion, and in hydrogen to $1.5 billion, down 20%, but the second highest annual figure so far.

According to the geographical division, Europe accounted for the largest share of global investment in energy transformation, with $166.2 billion, an increase of 67%, China reached $134.8 billion, a decrease of 12%, and the United States reached $85.3 billion, a decrease of 11%. Europe’s impressive performance was mainly due to record sales of electric vehicles and increased investment in renewable energy.

Jon Moore, chief executive of BNEF, said that, “The coronavirus pandemic has hindered the progress of some projects, but overall investment in wind and solar energy has been strong, and sales of electric vehicles have jumped more than expected. As more and more countries and enterprises are committed to the goal of zero emissions, and more and more green stimulus plans are implemented, more investment in energy transformation will be promoted in the next few years.”