Research from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) says the continuing plunge in costs for solar and wind energy, and for lithium-ion batteries, means that market opportunities will keep opening up for clean power, storage and electric vehicles.

The team behind the BNEF research has published its 10 predictions for 2018 within the clean energy sector. In summary, those are:

1. There will be $330 billion in clean energy investment.
2. Global solar installations will be at least 107GW.
3. Wind installations will reach about 59GW before a new record is established in 2019 at around 67GW.
4. Lithium-ion battery pack prices will continue to drop in 2018, but at a slower pace than in previous years.
5. Global EVs sales will be close to 1.5 million in 2018.
6. By the end of 2018, autonomous cars will reach 8.3 million miles driven.
7. Nymex natural gas Henry Hub price benchmark to average close to $3 per million British Thermal Units (MMBtu) in 2018.
8. The global LNG (liquified natural gas) market will see another year of significant growth in 2018.
9. The Trump administration will continue to pull every policy lever it can find to revitalize U.S. coal-fired power generation – but will not slow coal’s inexorable and inevitable decline.
10. The energy transition will continue apace in Asia’s two largest power systems, India and China, though the two countries face very different opportunities and challenges.

Earlier this month, BNEF published “Corporate Energy Market Outlook,” which found that corporations signed a record volume of power purchase agreements, or PPAs, for green energy in 2017. The increase in activity was driven by sustainability initiatives and the increasing cost-competitiveness of renewables. Specifically, a total of 5.4GW of clean energy contracts were signed by 43 corporations in 10 different countries in 2017.

The Environmental Leader Conference & Energy Manager Summit takes place May 15 – 17, 2018 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center. More information here.