Continued growth in investment and accelerated realization of energy targets
China leads global renewable energy investment
◎Our reporter Liu Xia
[Looking at China from the outside]
Editor's Note In the eyes of the world, China's overall scientific and technological strength has jumped to the forefront of the world; in the eyes of the world, the contribution rate of China's scientific and technological elements in various industries of the national economy has continued to increase, and the efficiency, convenience and safety of people's work and life have been fully guaranteed; In the eyes of the world, China's scientific and technological innovation capabilities have kept pace with the times, demonstrating the pragmatic, far-reaching and global influence of "Chinese wisdom"... From today, this column will launch a series of articles "Seeing China from the Outside".
Here, we present Chinese technology in the eyes of the world.
A recent report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) shows that in the first half of 2022, global investment in renewable energy reached a record $266 billion, with China accounting for 43%, making it the “leader” in global renewable energy investment. .
In addition, China is rapidly achieving its own renewable energy targets.
Renewable energy investment continues to grow
The increase in investment reflects the accelerating global demand for clean energy supplies in response to the ongoing energy and climate crises, the report shows.
Despite headwinds from ongoing cost inflation and supply chain challenges, demand for clean energy has never been higher, the BNEF analysis noted.
Despite challenges such as rising material costs, the new report points to an increase in financing for wind and solar projects globally.
In the first half of the year, the cumulative financing value of global solar projects was 120 billion US dollars, and the financing value of wind projects was 84 billion US dollars. The financing value of solar and wind energy increased by 33% and 16% respectively year-on-year.
In line with global trends, China's renewable energy investment has also grown significantly.
In the first half of 2022, China invested $41 billion in large-scale solar projects, a 173% increase from last year.
Investments in new wind power projects amounted to US$58 billion, an increase of 107% year-on-year.
China's climate goals are: by 2030, the proportion of non-fossil energy in primary energy consumption will reach about 25%, and the total installed capacity of wind power and solar power generation will reach more than 1,200 GW. Achieving these goals is expected to make China's carbon dioxide emissions less than peak before 2030.
In 2021, China announced a new carbon peaking and carbon neutral “1+N” policy system to achieve its carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.
In addition, in June this year, China's National Development and Reform Commission, National Energy Administration, etc. jointly issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development", which outlines China's renewable energy roadmap from 2021 to 2025.
The "Plan" clearly states that by 2025, the annual power generation of renewable energy will reach about 3.3 trillion kWh, the power generation of wind power and solar energy will be doubled, and the utilization of solar thermal energy, geothermal energy heating, biomass heating, biomass fuel and other non-essential The scale of electricity utilization has reached more than 60 million tons of standard coal.
BNEF pointed out that green infrastructure investment is the most important investment area for China to boost the economy in the second half of 2022.
The investment growth trend is in line with China's development strategy of building new renewable energy generation capacity to replace existing coal-fired generating units.
China is on track to achieve a target of 1,200 gigawatts of wind and solar power generation capacity by 2030.
In addition, the International Energy Agency predicts that in 2022 and 2023, China will account for 45% of the growth in global renewable energy generation, according to the website of Germany's "Youth Welt".
Fast track to renewable energy goals
From the data released by BNEF, China's renewable energy projects are developing rapidly.
By the end of 2021, China has achieved half of its 1,200 gigawatt target, with wind and solar generating capacity reaching 635 gigawatts, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
In addition, the 2022 report released by the Global Wind Energy Council shows that China recently surpassed the United Kingdom and Germany in terms of offshore wind power installed capacity, reaching 40% of the world's total installed wind power capacity, further confirming its status as the world's largest offshore wind power market.
In addition, according to the "14th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development", China is committed to building offshore power generation bases in five regions.
Energy development plans for six coastal provinces indicate that China's offshore wind capacity will grow by 32 gigawatts between 2021 and 2025, an increase of more than 60 percent from 2020.
China also plans to build large-scale solar and wind power plants in desert areas with a combined capacity of 450 gigawatts.
Among them, the construction of 97 gigawatts of solar power in the Gobi Desert has already begun.
Chinese energy companies are a rising power in the global wind and solar market.
Strong government support and massive renewable energy investments have helped Chinese manufacturers stay ahead of other countries.
BNEF pointed out that Chinese companies account for six of the top ten wind turbine manufacturers in the world.
Chinese companies account for eight of the top ten solar module manufacturers in the world.
Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry said China ranked first globally in intellectual property competitiveness of offshore wind power and next-generation solar technologies.
Germany's "Youth Welt" also pointed out that about two-thirds of the solar cells currently used in the world come from China.
As an important intermediate product, China's solar wafers account for about 95% of the world's total.
In addition to leading the world in renewable energy investment, China also dominates the processing of important minerals such as copper needed for wind turbines.
According to a report released by the Global Wind Energy Council in April this year, China's copper, rare earth and nickel shares in the global market are 40%, 87% and 35% respectively.