The year 2020 marked another milestone for the low-carbon energy transition. Amid the global economic slowdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, renewable energy (RE) sets the new record for the global renewable energy capacity expansion, including in Southeast Asia.

ASEAN Power Updates (2021) reported that renewable energy played a significant role in the power sector during the pandemic as around 82 percent of total ASEAN new capacity in 2020 came from renewable energy. As of 2020, renewable energy reached 95 gigawatts (GW) in installed capacity.

Renewable energy also shows resilience when it comes to investment. In 2020, investment in renewables hit US$359 billion, up 6.85 percent from the previous year. This contributed to more than 70 percent of total investment spent on all new generation capacity that year. The positive trend lays the basis for optimism for a greener world after the pandemic.

The original article can be found here.