Top 3 unchanged in EY's renewables index, France moves up

Middle East and North African countries are moving up in Ernst & Young's (EY) Renewable energy country attractiveness index (RECAI), and France is now very close to the top five.

France inched up two positions to sixth place, thanks to more tenders and acquisitions and strong political support for renewables under President Emmanuel Macron. Vietnam and Algeria are new entrants in this 50th issue of the ranking.

Meanwhile, nothing has changed in the top three, with China remaining number-one, followed by India and the US. India’s position is quite unstable due to the termination of power purchase agreements (PPAs) for wind and the very significant decline in bids in solar auctions, EY notes. The US has taken a very different course under President Trump, which led to its fall this spring from the top position in the index for the first time since 2015.

In that RECAI issue EY pays much attention to the transformation of the retail energy market through the “digitization, decentralization and decarbonization” of the energy system.

“What is clear is that time is running out for the existing model, where utilities seek to supply a growing volume of a commodity product, competing primarily on price,” says EY Global Power & Utilities Corporate Finance Leader Ben Warren. Warren sees the utility of the future as one that integrates retail consumers into a dynamic energy system in which battery storage, residential renewable generation and existing grid-level supply go together. Utilities will have much closer relationships with customers, allowing them to expand into higher value-added services.

The full RECAI is available at ey.com/recai.

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