Canada behind U.S., China, and India on renewable energy investment: survey

Canada is big on talk and short on action when it comes to promoting renewable energy investment, according to researchers at IHS Markit.

The London-based analytics firm ranked the country below global peers including the United States, China, India and Brazil in a new report looking at the most attractive regions to invest in renewable energy. Canada ranked 15th on the list of 35 global markets expected to account for 90 per cent of non-hydro renewable energy construction through 2030, according to IHS.

The rankings are based on a combined score for offshore wind, onshore wind and solar photovoltaic that weighs the different technologies based on their expected levels of installations over the next decade. Researchers considered the current government’s policy framework, market fundamentals, investor friendliness, infrastructure readiness, revenue risks and return expectations, ease of competing projects, and the overall opportunity size for each market.

The United States took the top spot in the first-of-its-kind ranking, owing in part to President Biden’s plans for significant investment in alternative energy sources.