China’s efforts to transition to green energy continued to make significant strides in 2022, according to a statement by the National Energy Administration on Monday. The country’s newly installed combined wind and solar power capacity reached a record 125 million kilowatts last year, bringing the tally of total installed capacity to over 1.2 billion kW.
The Chinese government has been working to ensure energy security while facilitating green energy transition, and it has been pushing hard on renewable energy. According to Wang Dapeng, an official with the National Energy Administration, the newly installed capacity of renewable energy reached 152 million kW in 2022, accounting for 76.2 percent of the country’s total newly added installed energy capacity. This includes 37.63 million kW of wind power, 87.41 million kW of solar power, and 3.34 million kW of biomass power generation.
As of the end of 2022, renewable energy accounted for 47.3 percent of the country’s total power generation capacity, up 2.5 percentage points from the previous year. This growth was due to the steady increase in a variety of energy resources, as China stepped up efforts to ensure sufficient energy supply amid a volatile global marketplace.
China has also completed several landmark energy projects in 2022, including the world’s largest clean energy corridor and the most efficient compressed air energy storage station. Luo Zuoxian, head of intelligence and research at the Sinopec Economics and Development Research Institute, noted that China’s attempts to greatly expand its wind and solar power capacity will further facilitate the country’s low-carbon energy transition and ensure domestic energy security.
Going forward, the National Energy Administration plans to further push forward technological innovation in solar and wind power. It will also accelerate the construction of solar and wind power generation facilities in the Gobi Desert and other arid regions, as well as boost the construction of offshore wind power bases. In addition, the growth of new types of power storage installations has also been gaining momentum in recent years, with the installed capacity of new types of power storage projects that have entered operation rising to 8.7 million kW by the end of last year, up more than 100 percent year-on-year.
All of these efforts have helped China to reduce its reliance on traditional sources of energy and become a global leader in renewable energy. With the government’s commitment to green energy, it is expected that China will continue to make significant strides in transitioning to a low-carbon economy.