The UK’s government and industry have long sought to put the country at the forefront of the green transition. fDi’s inaugural Global Renewable Energy Leaders ranking suggests these efforts are bearing fruit. 

Great Britain was the most successful country in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in green energy during 2022, according to the newly released ranking. It looks at three main indicators — number of announced foreign direct investment projects, their capital expenditure and estimated jobs creation, all sourced through greenfield investment monitor fDi Markets — to identify the world’s most successful renewable energy FDI destinations.  

In 2022, offshore wind projects in Scotland alone attracted $54.8bn worth of pledged foreign capital following ScotWind, a leasing round for seabed rights to develop commercial-scale wind farms. Meanwhile, the solar sector mobilised 10 projects around the UK, stretching from EDF’s Tees green hydrogen and solar project in the North East of England, to German-headquartered BayWa’s 50 megawatt (MW) solar plant in the South West.  

Hydrogen dreams

Emerging renewables hotspot Egypt — which last November hosted the COP27 climate change event — comes second in the overall ranking. In 2022, its wind sector attracted a $1.5bn offshore project commitment from a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, and a 10 gigawatt (GW) onshore project backed by UAE-based Masdar. These big-ticket projects landed it in fourth spot in the wind subcategory.

However, Egypt’s most attractive renewables industry is one in which the world is still lacking any commercial-scale production. Thanks to a host of commitments from the likes of Australia’s Fortescue Future Industries, India’s Acme Group and UAE-based Alcazar Energy, the country tops the hydrogen subcategory.  

Green hydrogen commitments also engendered the strong performances of Australia and Spain, which took third and fourth place, respectively, in the overall ranking. In Australia, South Korea’s Posco announced plans to invest $28bn in green hydrogen by 2040. The country is positioning itself as a renewables superpower, and in addition to hydrogen, it makes the top 10 in the wind, solar and battery tables.  

In Spain, the government entered talks with Denmark’s AP Moller–Maersk for a €10bn green fuel project. Its performance was also boosted by 14 solar power announcements, making it even with the US as the year’s biggest FDI solar market by project numbers. 

However, when it comes to wind and solar Italy trumps both Spain and Australia. The Mediterranean country, which is sixth in the ranking, mobilised an estimated $5.4bn from foreign investors in solar energy in 2022, which was also a pivotal year for Italian offshore wind. Operations commenced at its first offshore wind farm, Beleolico, and the government announced plans to auction 5GW of offshore power by 2026. Sardinia and Sicily show the most potential, with Spain’s BlueFloat Energy and Denmark’s CIP announcing projects off the islands’ coasts last year. 

Charging up 

Batteries have become a hotly contested battleground for clean energy FDI, as countries look to shore up local electric vehicle (EV) supply chains. The 2023 Global Renewable Energy Leaders ranking suggests the US is winning that battle, attracting four times as many battery projects as any other country in 2022. The appeal of US battery projects, plus its wind and solar sectors, which claim third spot in their subcategories, have been boosted since last August by the $369bn-worth of green subsidies offered by the US Inflation Reduction Act. 

The next most successful battery production destination was Germany, buoyed by a large automotive cluster preparing for an EV future. It is followed by Hungary, a favoured manufacturing location for foreign carmakers that attracted an estimated $5.1bn in battery projects from Germany, South Korea, China and Japan.  

Hungary is part of the emerging economies pack that is hot on the heels of better-established renewables markets. It is joined by Morocco, which places fifth in the hydrogen table; Vietnam, where wind power capital expenditure in 2022 was exceeded only by the UK; and Poland, which takes sixth place in the battery and solar subcategories.

This article first appeared in the April/May 2023 print edition of fDi Intelligence.