Overview

• Global renewable energy investment reached a record $386 billion in the first half of 2025 even as U.S. project financing declined.
• U.S. spending fell by $20.5 billion, or 36%, from the second half of 2024, marking the steepest drop of any country, according to BloombergNEF.
• BloombergNEF cites a late‑2024 rush to lock in Inflation Reduction Act tax credits followed by worsening policy conditions and growing tariff uncertainty.
• Federal actions increased risk for developers, including new Interior Department constraints on wind and solar, potential Commerce Department tariffs on wind components, and an Interior order to halt Ørsted’s nearly complete Rhode Island offshore project.
• Financing split by scale as utility‑scale projects faced revenue‑risk pressures while small‑scale solar spending rose, and the U.S. fell out of the world’s top five wind markets for the first time since 2016.