Investment in renewable energy fell 14% to less than $118bn in the first half of 2019, compared with the same period last year, according to new research by BloombergNEF.
The fall to $117.6bn was mainly down to a 39% slump in China, which experienced its lowest level of investment since 2013 with $28.8bn.
BloombergNEF said the plunge in activity in China came as the country shifts away from government-set tariffs to auctions for new wind and solar capacity.
BloombergNEF Asia-Pacific head Justin Wu said: “The slowdown in investment in China is real, but the figures for first-half 2019 probably overstate its severity.
“We expect a nationwide solar auction happening now to lead to a rush of new PV project financings. We could also see several big deals in offshore wind in the second half.”
Investment was also down in Europe by 4% to $22.2bn and 6% in the US to $23.6bn.
In Europe, investment in Spain was $3.7bn, up 235% on the same period a year earlier, while the Netherlands was 41% lower at $2.2bn, Germany down 42% at $2.1bn, the UK up 35% at $2.5bn and France down 75% at $567m.
Sweden saw investment jump 212% to $2.5bn, and the Ukraine 60% to $1.7bn.
BloombergNEF said one highlight of global clean energy investment in 1H 2019 was the financing of multibillion-dollar projects in two relatively new markets.
The 950MW Al Maktoum 4 solar thermal and photovoltaic complex in Dubai attracted $4.2bn, while the 640MW Yunlin and 900MW Changhua 1&2a offshore wind farms off Taiwan will be built at an estimated combined cost of $5.7bn.
Japan attracted $8.7bn investment, up 3% on 2018, India $5.9bn, up 10%, and Brazil $1.4bn a rise of 19%.
The research said asset finance of utility-scale projects was down 24% at $85.6bn, due in large part to the China factor, while financing of small-scale solar systems of less than 1MW was up 32% at $23.7bn in the period.
Investment in specialist clean energy companies via public markets was 37% higher at $5.6bn, but venture capital and private equity funding of clean energy companies was down 2% at $4.7bn.