China's green revolution: The rise of renewable energy

Editor's note: In the current global economic environment, China's economy has demonstrated its resilience and potential. How should the developing trend of China's economy be viewed? In what ways are the advantages of China's economic development reflected? Global Implications of China's Economic Growth is a five-part series examining the questions given. The third article focuses on China's competitive advantages in clean energy. Lu Jianfei, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is a senior consultant at State Grid Energy Research Institute and specializes in energy, state-owned enterprise reform and corporate governance. She holds a doctorate in management from Renmin University of China. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, China's green revolution is quietly succeeding. "China has set a target for 18 percent of 2025 power consumption to come from non-hydro renewable power." More than this, an International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast shows China is expected to achieve its 2030 target for wind and solar photovoltaic installations in 2024, six years ahead of schedule.

China's role is critical in reaching the global goal of tripling renewables because the country is to install more than half of the new capacity required globally by 2030. China's renewable energy development has been witnessed and highly commended by the international community.

Great achievements have been made concerning China's renewable energy development in decades. According to the latest Chinese government work report, China's installed renewable energy capacity surpassed its thermal power capacity for the first time in history, and the country accounted for over half of newly installed renewable energy capacity worldwide.

The IEA's report also shows that "China is the world's renewables powerhouse." In 2023, China's solar power capacity reached 220 gigawatts – as much as the entire world did in 2022, while wind power capacity grew by 66 percent. Overall, China shows firm confidence in the emerging renewable industries and has consistently taken effective actions to promote renewable resource development in recent years.

There are two reasons why China pays so much attention to renewable energy industrial development. Firstly, as a responsible major country, China remains committed to building a global community of a shared future. Green energy transition undoubtedly concerns the interests of every nation, and even every individual.

As the IEA report shows, on a per-capita-emissions basis, China reached 8.9 tonnes in 2023 which is higher than the world average of 4.6 tonnes, but far lower than the United States with 13.3 tonnes. Facing increasingly severe global uncertainties such as climate change, environmental risks and challenges, China is accelerating renewable industry development which further promotes green and low-carbon development in the economy and society. It is the Chinese approach to advance renewable energy use domestically as well as exploring a path of global sustainable energy alongside other countries.

Additionally, China has unparalleled advantages in boosting renewable energy development. Abundant renewable energy lays a solid foundation for China's energy transition. Taking solar and wind power for example, Solargis research shows that places with annual solar radiation of more than 5,000 megajoules/square meter and over 2,200 hours of sunshine per annum, takes up 60 percent of China's land area, and installing 2,500 gigawatts solar power only requires 0.8 percent of China's land mass.

Estimates by the Energy Research Institute of China and National Development and Reform Commission, suggest that in areas with higher than 300 watts/square meter wind resources, total onshore wind energy reserves of about 3,400 gigawatts are available at a height of 100 meters; and there are offshore resources of 500 gigawatts at 100 meters in areas with five to 50 meters water depth.

Thus, China has profound developmental potential in the renewable energy industry. On the other hand, China has mastered core technologies as well as great manufacturing ability at the necessary scale and quality to underpin the renewable energy industry. Taking solar for example, China's solar photovoltaic manufacturing capabilities have grown consistently in recent years, which reduced the modular price rapidly and increased the economic attractiveness of both utility-scale and distributed solar photovoltaic projects. This certainly provides a strong impetus for the global renewable industry development.

When it comes to a worldwide green transition, China is definitely part of the solution. It takes a generation for the country to achieve economic prosperity. But it also brings a task of comparable urgency and scale that within a generation, China is expected to offer the world a solution to balance between decarbonization and economic growth as a responsible major country.

It is noteworthy that China has made effective attempts by providing renewable energy technologies to other developing countries. Especially for developing countries with a small land area, low energy demand and underdeveloped power grids, the development of renewable energy such as wind and solar energy has significant advantages of low cost, high efficiency and strong flexibility.

In the future, China will not only accelerate its decarbonization, but also continue to promote its renewable energy technology to the world and make greater contributions to the global emission reduction.

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