China last week released three top-level documents on fighting climate change, renewable power and green financing. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) unveiled a new plan for renewable energy during the 14th Five Year Plan period from 2021 to 2025, to guide development of the sector in support of China’s 2060 carbon-neutral goals. By 2025, annual electricity generation from renewable energy should reach 3,300 terawatt-hours (TWh), and the share of power generated from renewable energy should account for 50% of the total increase in the country’s electricity consumption. Power generation from wind and solar sources should double at the same time, according to the NDRC. The new document de-emphasized China’s targets to increase the installed capacity of wind and solar power to 1,200 gigawatts (GW) and raise the share of non-fossil fuel energy consumption to 25% of the total energy mix by 2030.
China’s total renewable energy consumption should reach about 1 billion tons of standard coal equivalent by 2025, as the share of non-fossil fuel energy is expected to account for 20% of total energy use. If successful, it should help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 2.6 billion tons annually, according to NDRC. “There were worries that China may scale down its decarbonization efforts due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, energy security concerns, and disruptions to supply chains because of China’s Covid-19 policies,” said Qin Yan, Lead Carbon Analyst at data provider Refinitiv. “But the policy package and strong emphasis on renewables development shows that China is holding firm on its carbon peak and neutrality pledge.”
The NDRC and the National Energy Administration (NEA) issued an implementation plan, introducing 21 measures to ensure the country’s high-quality development of new energy. It includes the installation of large wind and solar bases, promotion of renewables in rural areas, speeding up approval procedures for wind power projects, including micro-grid projects, and the creation of a secure and efficient energy system to achieve the 1,200 GW target for wind and solar energy by 2030. The plan also emphasizes improving financial policies to support the shift to new energy, including green electricity trading and green certificates. Following the launch of a pilot scheme last September to enable renewable energy generators and corporate users to trade directly in green power, the plan indicates that more financial tools will be offered in the future, according to Qin.
China’s Ministry of Finance released a separate document announcing it would create a basic financial policy framework by 2030 to support China’s dual carbon goals. China Central Television (CCTV) announced that China aims to add 108 GW of solar power to the grid, higher than the industry association’s previous expectations. “The policies released this week are not a coincidence and are the result of joint efforts by multiple ministries to move forward and achieve a carbon peak by 2030,” said Qin. She expected China will start a rapid buildout of renewable energy in the 14th Five Year Plan period, especially in solar and wind energy, adding at least 100 GW in total per year.
China is the world’s biggest greenhouse gases emitter, emitting 9.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2020, or 30% of the world’s total. It announced a plan in 2020 to achieve peak carbon emissions by 2030, and secure net-zero emissions by 2060. It also vowed to start phasing out coal consumption from 2026. Renewable power made up 42.5% of China’s total installed power generation capacity at the end of 2020, or 934 GW. Wind power, photovoltaic power, hydropower, and biomass power generation reached 280, 250, 340, and 30 GW, respectively.
The consumption of renewable energy reached the equivalent of 680 million tons of standard coal in 2020, accounting for 13.6% of China’s total primary energy consumption, according to the NDRC. Power generated from renewable energy reached 2,200 TWh in 2020, or 29.1% of all power generation in the same year, the South China Morning Post reports.
