1H 2025: Global Renewable Investment Hits $386 Bn, But Utility-Scale Solar Falters

Global investment in new renewable energy projects hit a record $386 billion in the first half of 2025, up 10% from the previous year. However, asset finance for utility-scale solar and onshore wind shrank by 13% compared with 1H 2024, reaching its lowest share of total investment since 2006, according to the latest data from BloombergNEF (BNEF) published in the 2H 2025 Renewable Energy Investment Tracker.

BNEF found that utility-scale solar photovoltaic investment was particularly hard hit, falling 19% compared with the first half of 2024. The markets with the largest year-on-year declines – including mainland China, Spain, Greece, and Brazil – have experienced rising curtailment and greater exposure to negative power prices, indicating that revenue concerns were paramount for investors. Utility-scale solar activity remained stronger in markets with supportive government auctions or robust corporate energy demand.

Small-Scale Solar Project Drives Growth As Utility Projects Slow Down 

The BNEF report noted, "Small-scale solar spending helped offset the decline in financing for larger projects, as these are quicker to deploy and can be brought online ahead of significant policy shifts that affect revenues or returns." Citing an example, it said, "In mainland China, small-scale solar investment nearly doubled year-on-year, while utility-scale solar installations fell 28% ahead of a regulatory change that now exposes renewables to volatile power prices."

Meanwhile, the offshore wind segment also contributed to the record investment volume. The study showed that offshore wind attracted $39 billion in 1H 2025, surpassing the total of $31 billion in 2024. The report added, "Asset financing for the sector is driven by large projects and the timing of government auctions, making sizeable swings in investment quite natural. Elevated project costs outside mainland China also contributed to the rise."

“Renewable energy investors and developers are rethinking capital allocation and putting their money where project returns are strongest” said Meredith Annex, Head of Clean Power at BloombergNEF. “The decline in utility-scale solar and onshore wind financing during the first half of 2025 is taking a toll on project pipelines and likely will continue to do so.”

US Saw Greatest Drop In New Renewable Energy Investment

The BNEF study found that among all major regions, the US recorded the sharpest decline in new renewable energy investment in the first half (1H) of 2025. The research attributed this to a fall in committed spending, which dropped 36% to $20.5 billion from the second half of 2024. “This reflects the industry’s response to the 2024 US federal elections, as developers rushed to begin construction toward the end of last year to lock in access to tax credits, and then slowed activity in the first half of this year due to deteriorating policy conditions, particularly for wind, and growing tariff uncertainty,” the study said. 

“Markets with supportive revenue mechanisms have maintained momentum on renewable energy investment,” said Annex. “Whereas projects in markets where revenue certainty is shifting, particularly when it’s down to large swings in policy as in the US or mainland China, are seeing a boom-bust cycle ahead of those changes.”

EU-27 Investment Jumps $30 bn, Up 63% From H2 2024

Contrastingly, the EU-27 saw a rise in investment in the first half of 2025 of nearly $30 billion, or 63%, compared to the second half of 2024, said the BNEF report. These numbers support the idea that companies are reallocating capital out of the US and into Europe—particularly in offshore wind, where several developers refocused on North Sea sites over US projects, the research added.

The report also found that newer and emerging markets for renewables—which saw significant growth in 2024—mostly held at their new investment levels rather than gaining further shares of the global total. However, it clarified that Southeast Asia was an exception, where investment was up 7% from the second half of 2024, along with Latin America, where smaller markets gained their largest share of regional investment to date. Moreover, mainland China remained the largest market, with a 44% share of global new investment in 1H 2025.