UK companies attracted 18% of Europe’s cleantech investment amid a record year of funding for the sector, according to new data.
The report, compiled by IP and R&D tax credit firm GovGrant, shows that last year investors poured £134bn into cleantech firms across Europe.
That’s up by 4.4% from the previous record year, 2018. Over half of last year’s total investment in cleantech has gone into energy-related businesses.
The report found that 23% of the 8,500 businesses in Europe who create renewable energy technology, decarbonisation, agricultural technology and associated sectors are from the UK.
“The strength of the sector in the UK is also really pleasing. Clearly, our cleantech sector, helped by tax credits, is flourishing. It’s going to be exciting to see where the industry goes and what rising investment can do for the future of the planet,” said Adam Simmonds, investment research analyst, GovGrant.
In the UK cleantech sector, energy production businesses had the highest level of investment with £20.16bn since 2000. This was trailed by energy asset cleantech businesses who received £17.99bn and environmental services with £9.93bn.
This follows a report earlier this month that stated that climate tech is the fastest-growing vertical in Europe, with funding growing from $1.1bn (£840m) in 2017 compared to $11bn (£8.4bn) in 2021.
Of all clean tech investment worldwide, energy-related firms receive 43% of the total funding.
“Yet the largest barrier to progress the sector is facing regardless of investment is the talent shortage. Workers are at the heart of the clean energy transition as employment in the energy sector is set to increase to 100 million by 2050,” said David Hunt, founder and CEO, global cleantech sector acquisition specialist Hyperion Executive Search.
Oil and gas giant Shell recently said it will invest up to £25bn into UK energy projects over the next decade. However, the plan was criticised by UK clean tech firms that spoke to UKTN.
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