China and the US have retained their top positions on EY’s latest renewable energy country attractiveness index (RECAI), whilst France has risen up the top 40 rankings to third place (from its previous position of fifth) on the back of its floating offshore wind capacity ambitions and expanded onshore wind auctions, pushing India down into fourth place.
Australia, Germany, Japan, UK, Argentina and the Netherlands complete the current top ten.
Underlined in EY’s 53rd edition of the RECAI report is the shift in renewable energy to a largely unsubsidised sector "where projects compete in the market on their economic and environmental merits".
EY global power & utilities corporate finance leader and RECAI chief editor, Ben Warren, said: "In this more complex, subsidy-free environment, renewable developers must work harder and smarter to find the revenue certainty they need to finance or monetize their efforts. Europe has led the way with unsubsidised projects in areas with good renewable resources, and multiple projects across the Nordics, UK, and Spain are being developed which are backed by private investment and corporate PPAs to provide the required stability.
"For the renewable energy market overall, however, a future without government subsidy is one that will no longer be vulnerable to sudden shifts in policy, or to retroactive changes to promised tariffs. Instead, it will be one where market forces impose discipline, drive efficiencies and accelerate the cost reductions that have allowed the sector to stand on its own two feet."
Other countries highlighted for having significantly improved their rankings in this edition include South Korea, Vietnam, Norway and Finland.