China has already provided clean, green energy to almost every home in the country

[beijingwalker]

China has already provided clean, green energy to almost every home in the country​

Published February 20, 2023
By Robert Adams

Wind turbines and solar power plants in China generate almost as much electricity as is required to power almost every residential building in the country, according to Aroged, citing Bloomberg data from the National Energy Administration (NEA).

The agency’s report indicates that wind and solar power generation increased by 21% last year to 1,190 TWh (terawatt hour). China’s total residential energy consumption was 1,340 TWh, up 14% from a year earlier, according to the same data.

The NEA report highlights the rapid growth of renewable energy in the country against the backdrop of multi-billion dollar Chinese investments in this direction to solve environmental problems and reduce dependence on expensive fossil fuels.

However, it should be kept in mind that residential buildings in China account for a relatively small share of the country’s total energy consumption compared to other countries. In 2020, only 17% of all electricity generation in China was used directly by households, according to the International Energy Agency.

While in Japan, residential premises in the same year accounted for 29%, and in the USA – 39% of all generated energy. In China, the main consumers are still factories and plants. They consume 60% of the total electricity produced.

So, even if renewable sources are able to provide clean energy to virtually every home in China, Chinese manufacturers still have to burn huge amounts of fuel and, as a result, release huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to support economic growth.

China’s economic growth will pick up after the lifting of tough COVID-19 restrictions this year, analysts say. And this, in turn, also indicates a potential increase in harmful emissions into the atmosphere, although wind and solar energy cover almost all the needs of the ordinary population.

China has already provided clean, green energy to almost every home in the country

Wind turbines and solar power plants in China generate almost as much electricity as is required to power almost every residential building in the country, according to Aroged, citing Bloomberg data from the National Energy Administration (NEA). The agency’s report indicates that wind and solar...

gadgettendency.com

 

[beijingwalker]

China Province Has Too Much Solar Power households ordered to switch off rooftop panels so they don’t overwhelm the grid​

Bloomberg News
January 16 2023

Photovoltaic panels stand in a floating solar farm in this aerial photograph taken on the outskirts of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China, on Wednesday, April 22, 2020.

China's top leaders softened their tone on the importance of reaching specific growth targets this year during the latest Politburo meeting on April 17, saying the nation is facing "unprecedented" economic difficulty and signaling that more stimulus was in the works. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- China’s biggest region for solar power is ordering households to switch off rooftop panels during the Lunar New Year holiday so they don’t overwhelm the grid during a period of low demand.

Shandong province is forcing low-voltage distributed solar generation to stop operating from Jan. 19 to 28, Solarbe reported, citing a notice issued by local authorities. Electricity demand typically drops during the holiday as factories shut and workers return home, while some coal power plants need to keep operating because they also provide heat to keep homes warm in the winter.

The coastal province famous for its Tsingtao beer and home to more people than Germany is also China’s leader in solar power capacity. Of the nearly 40 gigawatts of panels it had as of last September, more than 70% were so-called distributed solar, which includes ones perched on roofs of homes and office buildings. Shandong has issued notices to curb distributed solar generation every Lunar New Year since 2018.

Distributed systems have boomed in China, especially since a supportive government program was announced in the summer of 2021, accounting for more than half of all newly added solar capacity in the country last year. But they may be reaching a saturation point in Shandong and other places where growth was particularly dramatic, as grids are having difficulty making full use of the power due to its intermittent nature and a lack of energy storage systems.

China Province Has Too Much Solar Power for Lunar New Year - BNN Bloomberg

China’s biggest region for solar power is ordering households to switch off rooftop panels during the Lunar New Year holiday so they don’t overwhelm the grid during a period of low demand.

www.bnnbloomberg.ca

 

[beijingwalker]

China is adding solar and wind faster than many of us realise: three charts that put it in perspective​

China adds enough solar and wind every year to cover the total electricity use of major countries such as South Africa, Spain, and the UK.​

Hannah Ritchie
Feb. 20 2023

China emits almost a third of the world’s CO2 emissions. Its transition to low-carbon energy matters a lot.

It usually comes under fire for its mammoth coal consumption. Indeed, it’s the world’s largest coal producer and even on a per capita basis, it’s near the top of the rankings.

But what’s promising – and should get more attention – is how rapidly China is scaling solar and wind power. It can be hard to wrap your head around these numbers because they’re usually reported in abstract units of gigawatts or gigawatt-hours.

Here I want to put China’s renewables numbers into context using three charts.

1) China adds enough new solar and wind every year to cover the total electricity use of many major economies such as Australia and the UK
​

Let’s start by looking at how much solar and wind electricity China adds per year. This is not the total amount of solar and wind energy that it produces, but the amount that is added each year. Here we’re not looking just at added capacity, the amount installed per gigawatt (GW), but the change in actual electricity generated.

This is shown in the chart.

In 2021, it increased solar and wind electricity by 255 terawatt-hours (TWh).

1 This is equal to the total (from all sources, not just renewables) electricity use of Australia.

2 In 2023, I’ve estimated that China will add 359 terawatt-hours.

3 That’s more than Spain or the United Kingdom's total electricity use.

2) China’s total electricity generation from solar and wind is enough to match the total electricity of some of the world’s largest economies
​

We just looked at how much China adds every year. Let’s look at how much solar and wind electricity it generates in total: that’s the running sum of what it has added.

Here, the figure for 2022 is an estimate, but I expect it to be not far off. Figures for 2023 are preliminary based on early projections of what China will add this year from industry reports [these won’t be perfect but should give us a reasonable estimate].

In the chart, I’ve shown how China’s solar and wind output stacks up next to the electricity use of some of the world’s largest countries.

It’s producing enough to power Canada or Brazil twice over. Enough to power Japan or Russia. And it’s not far from matching India’s total electricity use.

That’s staggering: if some of the world’s biggest countries had added solar and wind at the rate of China, they could have fully decarbonised their electricity grids by now. [Yes, I know it’s not as simple as that because they’d need energy storage etc. but it gives us some useful comparisons of the scale].

3) China could cover its entire residential electricity use from solar and wind
​

How does China’s solar and wind compare to its own electricity use?

In 2022, China consumed 8,600 TWh of electricity.

That means around 14.5% of its electricity came from solar and wind. Still relatively small, but growing quickly. This also puts China’s total electricity use into perspective. It produces enough solar and wind to power many of the world’s largest economies, but this is still only around one-seventh of its own demand.

But China does (almost) produce enough solar and wind to cover all of its homes. Residential electricity use is around 1,350 terawatt-hours.

That’s slightly more than its solar and wind output in 2022. 2023 could be the year that solar and wind surpass it.

This also puts China’s electricity use into perspective: industry dominates its energy demand. Just 16% of China’s electricity is used in its homes.

China’s rapid rollout of wind and solar should be a push for other countries to do more
​

It’s not that surprising that China adds more solar and wind than other countries. It’s joint with India as the most populated country and is the world’s second-largest economy.

But there is still a big ambition gap between China and the rest of the world. It’s adding renewables up to 50 times faster than other major economies. It’s certainly not 50 times as rich.

Many of the world’s richest countries are lagging behind. This ‘ambition gap’ is something I might tackle in a future post.

China is adding solar and wind faster than many of us realise: three charts that put it in perspective

China adds enough solar and wind every year to cover the total electricity use of major countries such as South Africa, Spain, and (almost) the UK.

hannahritchie.substack.com

 

[beijingwalker]

China Now Has Nearly Half of the World's Offshore Wind Capacity​

44 percent of the world's offshore wind turbine capacity is installed in Chinese waters, and more is coming, according to a new report​

File image courtesy China General Nuclear Power Corp.


PUBLISHED FEB 26, 2023 1:08 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

China has maintained its leadership in the global race for new offshore wind turbine installations despite an expected decline in annually added capacity, according to the latest numbers from the World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO).

The WFO's annual report shows that nearly seven gigawatts of offshore wind capacity was added in China in 2022, a substantial drop compared to 12.7 GW of new capacity that was added to the national grid in 2021.

The plunge was attributed to the expiration of a favorable Chinese feed-in tariff, which in 2021 encouraged project developers and investors to rush to commission projects before the deadline. Those who finished construction were able to lock in a premium offshore wind feed-in tariff of 0.75 – 0.85 RMB/kWh for 20 years, safeguarding them from price competition.

Despite the drop, China still maintained leadership in new wind capacity in a year that saw a total of 9.4 GW of global offshore wind capacity added, a substantial drop compared to 15.6 GW in 2021. The new capacity pushed global installed offshore wind to 57.6 GW, up from 48.1 GW.

During the year, China expanded its position as the world’s largest offshore wind market by far with 25.6 GW of installed capacity - more than the UK with 13.6 GW, Germany with 8 GW and the Netherlands with 3 GW combined. 44 percent of the world’s total offshore wind capacity is now installed in Chinese waters.

The report shows that 42 new offshore wind farms went into operation worldwide last year, 29 of which were installed in China, five in Vietnam and two in Japan. The UK, South Korea, Italy, France, Spain and Germany commissioned one wind farm each.

“It is excellent to see that important new offshore wind markets such as France and Japan have successfully installed their first commercial-scale offshore wind farms. We will see many more countries from around the world join the offshore wind industry over the next few years,” said Gunnar Herzig, WFO Managing Director.

France and Japan installed their first large-scale offshore wind farms ever. France welcomed the completion of the Saint Nazaire wind farm, with a capacity of 480 MW, and Japan started up the Akita/Noshiro Port wind farm, with a capacity of 140 MW.

New offshore wind installations are set to reach a record 18.4 GW in 2023, and mainland China will account for over half of the total. This year, six markets will add over 1 GW, including Taiwan, which will install over 2 GW of new capacity for the first time.

Annual offshore wind construction is forecast to climb to 45.7 GW in 2030, underpinned by the mature markets of China, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. Emerging markets like the U.S, Taiwan, France, South Korea, Poland and Japan will make significant contributions, while Norway, India, Spain and Greece will install their first projects later in the 2020s.

In the decade after 2030, more new markets will contribute to newbuilds, including Colombia, Brazil and Sweden. From 2031 to 2035, new installations are projected to average 45.6 GW per year, peaking at 48.2 GW in 2035 when global offshore wind installations are expected to reach 519 GW.

China Now Has Nearly Half of the World's Offshore Wind Capacity

China has maintained its leadership in the global race for new offshore wind turbine installations despite an expected decline in annually added capac...

www.maritime-executive.com

 

[beijingwalker]

Last Year, China Poured $546 Billion Into Clean Energy
Ben Hernandez
Feb 23, 2023

China is making aggressive plans to shift its stigma as a major polluter to a leader in clean energy investment. A $546 billion investment in clean energy is certainly a step in the right direction.

It’s not something the second-largest economy just decided to do in the past year. China has already been looking to make bold maneuvers in order to reduce its carbon footprint — in effect, it’s even looking to surpass the United States in terms of clean energy investment.

“China once again topped the world in clean energy investments last year, a trend that could challenge U.S. efforts to develop more homegrown manufacturing,” a Scientific American article said.

“Nearly half of the world’s low-carbon spending took place in China, according to a recent analysis from market research firm BloombergNEF,” the article added further. “The country spent $546 billion in 2022 on investments that included solar and wind energy, electric vehicles and batteries.”

Last Year, China Poured $546 Billion Into Clean Energy

China is making aggressive plans to become a leader in clean energy, which includes a $546 billion investment.

etfdb.com