China’s advanced new energy technology and well-developed industrial chain have played a key role in supporting the global shift toward green and low-carbon energy, said industry experts and company executives. China has made significant progress in enhancing its new energy technology, including the record conversion efficiency of crystalline silicon and the world’s largest capacity of offshore wind turbines, which has significantly contributed to reducing costs and facilitated the world’s green energy transition, they say. “China has developed a complete wind and photovoltaic industry chain, from research and development to design and integrated manufacturing systems,” said Zhang Mianrong, Chairman of the Energy Development Research Institute under the China Southern Power Grid Co. “Over the past decade, global wind and solar power costs have decreased by 60% to 80%, with China contributing the majority of this reduction,” Zhang said during the 2024 Tongzhou Global Development Forum held in Beijing on October 19.
“As the global leader in renewables development, China has been engaged in new energy and hydropower-related cooperation with over 100 countries and regions to meet local demand. Last year alone, the country saw its exports of wind and photovoltaic products help other countries reduce carbon emissions by 810 million metric tons,” Zhang said. China has made significant progress in recent years in advancing renewable energy technologies from wind power capacity to solar cell efficiency, emerging as a global leader in the field, he added.
An international team led by scientists from the Institute of Chemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) recently developed a new type of high-efficiency solar cell capable of achieving a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 26.4%, the highest efficiency realized to date. Compared with the current widely used crystalline silicon solar cells, perovskite-organic tandem solar cells offer advantages such as ease of preparation, lightness, and the ability to be fabricated into flexible devices.
The world’s most powerful floating offshore wind turbine, independently developed by China with a generating capacity of 20 megawatt, recently rolled off the production line in Yancheng, Jiangsu province. It features a wind wheel with a diameter of 260 meters and a swept area of 53,100 square meters, and can generate 62 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power about 37,000 households, saving 25,000 tons of coal, while cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 62,000 tons. Through these developments, China is further cementing its position as the global leader in renewables development, with the installed capacity new energy expanding at a rapid pace in recent years, which in turn becomes a driving force for the green and low-carbon energy transition, said Zhang.
China has witnessed rising output of clean energy. China's total installed power generation capacity reached 3.16 billion kilowatts as of September 30, up 14.1% year-on-year. The country saw its wind and photovoltaic installed capacity surpass coal power in June, reaching 1.18 billion kW. The installed capacity of solar power generation was about 770 million kilowatts, up 48.3%, and that of wind power was about 480 million kilowatts, up 19.8%, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said. “The significant increase in China's total installed power generation capacity, particularly the rapid growth of clean energy capacity, clearly demonstrates the government's investment in and commitment to the sector,” said Wang Peng, Associate Research Fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences. This growth helps optimize the energy structure and reduce reliance on traditional fossil fuels, and it also lowers carbon emissions, promoting environmental sustainability, said Wang.
Zhang Jianhua, Director of the NEA, stated that the rapid development of renewable energy in China reflected continuous technological progress, a complete industrial supply chain, and a favorable market environment. “After years of development, China has established a relatively complete supply chain for new-energy industries such as wind and solar power, while China is actively integrating into the global clean energy supply chain, continuously sharing high-quality clean energy products with the world”, Zhang noted.
Along with the rapid expansion of China's new-energy industries, a growing volume of waste, including discarded batteries, solar panels and wind turbine blades, have caused concern, with the country's environmental authorities stepping up regulatory measures and formulating specific disposal standards. “We place great importance on the environmental regulation of these new types of solid wastes, striving to support the high-quality development of clean energy industries," said Guo Yijun, Director of the Department of Solid Wastes and Chemicals at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. The new types of solid waste primarily consist of batteries used in early models of electric vehicles, solar panels from renewable energy installations, and wind turbine blades. These materials will increasingly be discarded as they reach the end of their lifecycle, driving up the volume of waste, according to Guo, as reported by the China Daily.
