Renewable energy puts nation on track to meet carbon goals

Supported by robust supply chains and policy measures, China has performed well in developing renewable energy in recent years. Total installed capacity of renewable energy generation in China rose to 1.1 billion kilowatts over the past 10 years. The combined installed capacity of wind and solar power has reached 670 million kWs, almost 90 times the level in 2012, the National Energy Administration said. During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), China’s renewable energy generation capacity is expected to account for more than 50 per cent of the total, and the generation capacity of wind and solar power will be doubled, the administration said.

Wei Hanyang, a power market analyst at the research company BloombergNEF, said part of the reason for this rapid development is China’s advantages in boosting clean power installation due to massive demand from the domestic market. State-owned grid operators have tried to ensure renewables are consumed, rather than wasted.

“Renewable energy has become the principal source of the country’s newly added installed generation capacity in recent years, especially solar and wind power,” Wei Hanyang said. “China leads globally in installed capacities for wind, photovoltaic, hydro and biomass power as it presses ahead with a green development path.”

The country ’s renewable energy sector will grow steadily, and there will be more solar power installations nationwide, he said. China’s rapid development of renewable energy has also attracted multinationals. Shell plc, SABIC and Honeywell have announced plans in recent years to invest in the country’s renewable energy sector because of its rapid growth and huge potential. Global energy and chemical companies are drawing up local plans that cover a broad range of subsectors such as petrochemicals, hydrogen, vehicle charging stations and carbon capture, utilisation and storage, or CCUS.

Shell, which is based in London, has steadily invested in China’s renewable energy market in recent years. Part of the company’s blueprint is to expand its hydrogen presence in the country by building a network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Shanghai — Shell’s first hydrogen refuelling network in Asia — in collaboration with the State-owned Shenergy Group Co. The joint venture said it plans to build six to 10 hydrogen refuelling stations in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region in the next five years, rising to 30 stations by 2030.

Shell also expressed optimism about the prospects for CCUS in China, saying it is essential to help the country achieve a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.

Jason Wong, executive chairman of Shell Companies in China, said the country’s significant geological potential for storing carbon — it has an estimated 2,400 gigatonnes of storage capacity, second only to that of the United States — means there is plenty of potential to tap. The US energy company ExxonMobil has said it will work with China National Offshore Oil Corp and Shell to develop a carbon capture and storage, or CCS, centre in Huizhou, Guangdong province. The facility, China’s first large-scale offshore CCS hub capable of capturing up to 10 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, will significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and meet the decarbonisation needs of companies in the area. Lu o Zu oxian , head o f intelligence and research at the Sinopec Economics and Development Research Institute in Beijing, said foreign investment in China’s energy sector is expected to rise as the country continues to step up its green energy transition with the aim of becoming carbon neutral by 2060.

“Leading in renewable energy production figures for years, China has a market potential that no other country can match,” he said. State-owned energy companies are also helping the country’s green energy transition by optimising their businesses.