US stays atop EY renewables attractiveness index, Spain heads PPA chart

Offshore wind turbines. Author: Martin Pettitt. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic

Emerging renewables technologies and green fuels could be key to reducing global reliance on gas as energy security concerns have increased governments' focus on renewables programmes, Ernst & Young Global (EY) said this week while releasing the 59th EY Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI).

“Many renewables technologies that were considered new and high-risk in the recent past are fast showing the potential to become mainstream and are therefore attracting investment interest,” said EY Global Renewables Leader Arnaud de Giovanni.

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According to the firm, floating wind and solar technologies, as well as green hydrogen, have the potential to become mainstream thanks to a growing interest in new sources of renewable energy.

In the latest edition of the index, the US and China remained the most attractive markets for renewable energy investment. Several markets moved up in the top 10. The UK climbed two positions compared to the previous index in October 2021 to rank third. Germany also moved up as it brought forward its 100% green power target by 15 years to 2035. Austria made a leap to 37th place as the government committed to providing EUR 250 million to support renewables development. Other countries that made significant progress include Denmark, which went up to 11th from 15th place, spurred by its target of up to 6 GW of hydrogen by 2030.

Market	Rank	Previous Rank
US	1	1
China Mainland	2	2
UK	3	5
Germany	4	6
France	5	4
Australia	6	7
India	7	3
Japan	8	8
Spain	9	10
Netherlands	10	11

At the top of EY’s recently launched PPA index remained Spain and the US. They were followed by Germany and the UK, which improved their positions, and Australia, which remained fifth.

Market	Rank	Previous rank
Spain	1	1
US	2	2
Germany	3	4
UK	4	7
Australia	5	5
France	6	3
Sweden	7	10
Finland	8	11
Netherlands	9	8
Denmark	10	16

EY said that the PPA market is experiencing continued growth due to high power prices and new corporate ambitions, although growth is being slowed down by supply chain delays and permission and grid connection challenges. As a result, there is a shortage of ready-to-build projects, which along with greater demand for PPAs and increasing equipment costs, has pushed up PPA prices. In many locations, however, low, fixed PPA prices are attractive against high, volatile wholesale prices, it said.