China increasing its share of renewable energy

June 30, 2014 | By

China's renewable energy capacity increased from 27.8 GW in 2001 to 183 GW in 2013, and alternative sources are expected to account for more than 20 percent of the country's total electricity generation by 2020, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData. The country's emergence as a major player in the global renewable energy industry, and the leading country in the Asia-Pacific region, has been accelerated by a combination of government encouragement and market guidance, GlobalData notes.

Dezhou, Shandong, China. Credit: Fanghong/Wikimedia Commons

"Soaring energy demand, expeditious industrialization and international pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have impelled China to increase its share of renewable energy," said Harshavardhan Reddy Nagatham, GlobalData's alternative energy analyst. "The country has introduced feed-in tariffs (FIT) at the state and provincial level in order to promote the development of alternative energy, which has contributed to substantial capacity additions over the last decade, especially those of wind and solar power. This growth is expected to continue thanks to the government's ambitious targets for renewables."

China's goal is to add 15 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV), 5 GW of wind, .53 GW of geothermal and 3.3 GW of biomass power by 2015, according to GlobalData. China's National Energy Administration has planned approximately $39.5 billion for the development of solar power between 2011 and 2015, and the government has initiated several major support measures. Most notably of these measures is the Golden Sun Program and the Building Integrated PV subsidy program, as well as FITs for solar projects, such as the One Million Rooftops Sunshine Plan in the Shandong province.

"Consequently, the Chinese government revised the target for the cumulative installed capacity of its solar power to 35 GW by 2015, a considerable increase from the original target of 21 GW set in 2012," Nagatham said. "This will also contribute significantly to the growth of PV installations in the near future."

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