According to a report, the amount of wind and solar energy under construction in China is currently almost twice that of the rest of the world combined.
Research published Thursday by Global Energy Monitor (GEM), an NGO, showed that China has 180 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar power under construction and 15GW of wind power. This brings the total wind and solar energy under construction to 339 GW, far exceeding the 40 GW under construction in the US, according to theguardian.com.
The researchers only considered solar farms with a capacity of 20 MW or more that feed directly into the grid. This means the total volume of solar energy in China could be much higher, as small-scale solar farms account for about 40% of China’s solar capacity.
The findings highlight China’s leading position in global renewable energy production, at a time when the US is increasingly concerned about China’s overcapacity and dumping, particularly in the solar industry.
In recent years, China has experienced a renewable energy boom, driven by strong government support. Xi Jinping, the President of China, has emphasized the need for “new high-quality productive forces,” a slogan indicating the desire to steer China’s economy toward technology and innovation. Xi has stated that “new high-quality productive forces” include strengthening green production.
Between March 2023 and March 2024, China installed more solar energy than in the past three years combined and more than the rest of the world combined for 2023, according to GEM analysts. China is on track to reach 1,200 GW of installed wind and solar capacity by the end of 2024, six years ahead of the government’s goal.
“The continuous wave of construction guarantees that China will continue to lead in wind and solar installations in the near future, far ahead of the rest of the world,” the report said.
However, analysts have warned that even more renewable capacity will be needed for China to meet its goal of reducing the carbon intensity of its economy by 18%, a significant factor in emission reductions. Carbon intensity refers to how many grams of CO2 are released to produce a kilowatt-hour of electricity.
Previous analyses suggest that China will need to install between 1,600 GW and 1,800 GW of wind and solar energy by 2030 to achieve its goal of producing 25% of its total energy from non-fossil sources.
Between 2020 and 2023, only 30% of the increase in energy consumption was covered by renewable sources, compared to the target of 50%.
“It is obviously important for China to continue adding more renewable energy to meet its goals,” said Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Policy Institute in Washington DC. “But it is not as simple as continuing to build and it will solve itself… [because] there is no sign that the country is trying to move away from coal consumption.”
Previous analyses by GEM and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a think tank, found that approvals for new coal-fired power plants increased fourfold between 2022 and 2023, compared to the previous five-year period 2016-2020, despite a 2021 commitment to “strictly control” new coal-fired power plants. The growth in total coal consumption increased from an average of 0.5% per year to 3.8% per year between the two periods.
Geopolitical tensions, such as the war in Ukraine, which has focused many countries’ attention on energy supply, and major energy disruptions in parts of China in recent years, have heightened Chinese officials’ concerns about energy security.
China’s power grid remains dependent on coal, which officials consider necessary to mitigate the intermittency of renewable energy. Officials often see the coal industry as a reliable way to boost local GDP figures, even though clean energy sectors are currently the most important driver of China’s economic growth, accounting for 40% of GDP expansion in 2023.
Analysts say better storage and grid flexibility are needed to efficiently use the increasing volume of clean energy produced by China’s wind and solar farms.
The Chinese government is aware of this challenge, naming lithium-ion batteries as one of the “three new” important technologies for creating high-quality growth, along with electric vehicles and solar panels. Last year, $11 billion was invested in grid-connected batteries, representing a 364% increase from 2022.
The GEM report also highlighted China’s leading position in the actual construction of planned renewable energy infrastructure. The 339 GW of wind and solar energy that has reached the construction phase represents one-third of the proposed projects, far exceeding the global construction rate of 7%.
“China’s renewable energy pipeline is twice the size of the rest of the world’s,” said Li. “But the question we should increasingly be asking is: how is the rest of the world so slow?”
