Renewable Energy Market Trends

Below details some of the latest market trends in the Renewable Energy Market, Voluntary Carbon Market and RECs Market.

1. Renewable Energy Market

COVID-19 has accelerated the growth of the renewable energy market as there is a heightened environmental consciousness among businesses and consumers. Renewable capacity additions in 2020 increased by more than 45% from 2019, the largest year-on-year increase in the last two decades. Amongst the various renewable energy types, solar PVs are taking the lead in market growth.

Additionally, China has the largest renewable energy market globally. In 2020, China alone accounted for 50% of the global renewable capacity growth.

Source: Renewable electricity – Renewable Energy Market Update 2021 – Analysis - IEA

2. Voluntary Carbon Market

Voluntary carbon market encompasses carbon offsets transactions that are purchased in the non-compliance market. Following three years of robust growth, the voluntary carbon market reached a record high in 2019, both in terms of issuances and retirements. Issuance volume is a proxy for supply while retirement volume is a proxy for demand. Issuances in 2019 increased by almost 50% from 2018, while retirements in 2019 increased by 33% from 2018.

Source: How the voluntary carbon market can help address climate change | McKinsey

3. RECs Market

RECs is a rapidly emerging market poised for massive growth, increasing exponentially in size from 2014 to 2020. In Asia, China has the largest year-on-year growth in RECs volume, registering a 44% increase in the number of RECs on the TIGRs and I-REC registries from 2019 to 2020.

Source: Sys Energy