London-based accountant Ernst & Young (EY) – one of the ‘Big Four' – has rated India top of the pile for PV in its latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index.
The professional services firm, which has been publishing a list of the world's top 40 nations by renewables investment since 2003, on Wednesday revealed the U.S. and China remained the number one and two destinations, respectively, for clean energy spending.
However, that headline ranking is for all renewables and EY also broke down the scores awarded by technology type to show India as top dog for photovoltaics, with its solar capacity having hit 35 GW on the back of ultra-low solar electricity tariffs.
The accountant listed China as the second most attractive location for solar PV with the U.S. third. Of the top 40 nations for overall renewables attractiveness, Norway and Finland brought up the rear for PV.
Morocco, Portugal and Vietnam all climbed the rankings five places since the list was last published, with the record-breaking, 670 MW national clean energy auction held in Portugal this year helping its score, while Vietnam was boosted by a combination of its recent solar boom and planned switch to a reverse-auction bidding system for incentives, which has driven such spectacularly low solar tariffs in India. The other notable climber was Taiwan, which rose 14 places thanks to its ambitious offshore wind targets.
On the other side of the coin, Switzerland tumbled 11 places in the list and the anti-renewables stance of the current Mexican administration saw that nation tumble eight places, with up to 250 MW of clean energy capacity set to be hit by a proposed rise in renewable energy transmission charges. Israel and Jordan each slipped six places in the list.
In the top ten, Australia climbed to a highest-ever ranking of third place despite constant renewables-lobby criticism of the Scott Morrison government and India's solar strides hoisted the nation to fourth in the list. The U.K. rose to fifth, swapping places with Germany, France fell four places to seventh thanks to its Covid-delayed national auctions and Japan, the Netherlands and Spain rounded out the top ten.
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