For years, the narrative has been all about the unstoppable clean energy expansion, but recent policy reversals, geopolitical shifts and supply chain bottlenecks have made the trend not so straightforward anymore.
In this episode, we look under the hood of the global energy transition and map out where the money is actually flowing. We review overall investment trends, break down the picture for different technologies, and look over the horizon to see how the investment landscape will shift for the back half of this decade.
Joining us to unpack the data is Alex Phillips, GlobalData energy transition analyst and author of GlobalData’s 2026 Energy Transition Investment Trends report.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/56Xsu4N1WvZMb9LBUmi5Xk
Overview: energy transition investment trends
Despite a tougher macro environment, Phillips says “the word that best captures energy transition investment over the past year is resilience”. Clean energy investment is holding up, driven by electrification, energy security concerns and demand growth coming from AI and data centres.
“While the pace of growth is moderating from the rapid acceleration seen earlier in the decade, investment continues to expand across both established and emerging technologies.”
But he also flags a counterintuitive twist: some of the same drivers for clean energy are reviving coal investment, noting: “This is proof that energy security doesn’t automatically mean clean.”
He adds that there has also been significant investment flows going into supporting infrastructure for the transition, including energy storage and grids. But “capital commitment doesn’t guarantee delivery, with supply chain bottlenecks and permitting delays presenting significant risks,” he caveats.
Generation technologies: where capital is being distributed across the transition
Phillips breaks down investment trends across different power generation technologies, the headline being that renewables continue to dominate new power investment, while nuclear is drawing renewed attention as demand grows for low-carbon firm generation.
Solar remains the biggest magnet for capital, but growth is uneven and increasingly exposed to supply chain concentration and policy shifts – factors that are expected to slow investment later this decade.
Nuclear is resurging, with investment projected to rise sharply by 2030 and the centre of gravity moving from the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region toward Europe and the US in the late 2020s. Small modular reactors emerge as a key catalyst as data centres look for reliable and clean baseload power.
