China noticed monumental photo voltaic and wind progress in 2024, in line with information launched at this time by its Nationwide Power Administration (NEA).
China’s put in capability shot up by 14.6% final yr, now surpassing 3,348 gigawatts (GW).
Photo voltaic noticed the largest leap, with a record-breaking 45.2% improve (+277 GW), reaching 887 GW general. Wind energy additionally noticed strong progress, climbing 18% (+80 GW) to virtually 521 GW.
In 2020, President Xi Jinping set a purpose of at the very least 1,200 GW of photo voltaic and wind capability by 2030. China met that focus on final yr – almost six years forward of schedule – in line with NEA information from August.
The nation has additionally constructed almost twice as a lot wind and photo voltaic as each different nation mixed.
Hydropower rose 3.2% to just about 436 GW, and nuclear ticked up 6.9% to succeed in near 61 GW. In the meantime, thermal capability grew by 3.8% to over 1,444 GW. (The NEA doesn’t break down what powers the thermal capability, however my educated guess is generally fossil fuels.)
On the era aspect, China, the world’s largest electrical energy producer, produced 9,418 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electrical energy in 2024 – a 4.6% improve in comparison with the yr earlier than. Breaking it down, thermal energy era was up 1.5%, hydropower and wind each grew by 11%, and photo voltaic led the pack once more with an enormous 28% enhance. Electrical energy consumption additionally noticed vital progress, leaping 6.8% to 9,852 TWh in 2024.
China is much forward of everybody else with renewable vitality installations, however coal nonetheless performs a giant function within the nation’s vitality combine. That stated, there are indicators it is likely to be beginning to kick its coal behavior. Coal energy permits dropped by an enormous 83% in H1 2024 in comparison with H1 2023, and no new coal-based steelmaking tasks had been accepted throughout that point.
Electrek’s Take
No. 1 polluter, China, was already far forward of the No. 2 polluter, the US, within the transition to renewables. However with Donald Trump pulling the US out of the Paris Settlement (becoming a member of simply Iran, Libya, and Yemen) once more, halting wind challenge allowing and leasing, and issuing a collection of silly govt orders favoring fossil fuels and placing obstacles within the profitable renewable sector’s manner, it seems like China is poised to depart the US even additional within the mud.
Learn extra: The US’s largest offshore wind farm is on funds and on time
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