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AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec
China adds over 100 GW of
wind and solar in 2021
CHINA CHINA added 100.54 GW of new wind and rush to connect, which has resulted in China
solar capacity in 2021, according to official data, knocking the UK off the top spot when it comes
way above the government’s target of 90GW. to the world’s offshore wind market. China will
This outperforms the 90-GW guaranteed need to continue to deploy large amounts of
target, although the total was well below the 120 wind in order to meet its energy transition goals,”
GW posted in 2020. Rebecca Williams, global head of offshore wind
Wind accounted for 47.57 GW of new capac- at the Global Wind Energy Council, told Carbon
ity, of which 16.9 GW was offshore, while solar Brief.
added 52.97 GW during the year, the National Meanwhile, the Chinese government has
Energy Administration (NEA) said. called on its people to adopt “green and low-car-
The new capacity means that China had 328.5 bon consumption” in all areas of life.
GW of wind capacity, of which 26.4 GW was off- Seven of China’s top-level government
shore, and 306.5 GW of solar capacity at the end organs released a joint scheme on Friday, setting
of 2021, with wind and solar comprising 26.7% guidelines for the public to undergo a “green
of total installed power generating capacity. transition” while buying food, clothing, houses,
The 16.9-GW jump in offshore capacity vehicles, general appliances, etc.
means that China built more offshore wind In particular, the document said that relevant
capacity in 2021 than the rest of the world com- government agencies would “vigorously develop
bined had done in the last five years, Simon green transport”. It required authorities to “rea-
Evans, Carbon Brief deputy editor, said. sonably guide” consumers to buy light, small and
He added that China’s offshore wind capacity low-emission vehicles.
now accounts for half of the world’s total. The green expansion comes as the Interna-
“These dramatic levels of installations reflect tional Energy Agency (IEA) said in its January
the possibilities of transforming an energy mix 2022 Electricity Market Report that it expected
under ambitious policy targets, economies of green energy to meet more than 70% of China’s
scale and effective market incentives. The expiry “additional” electricity demand – meaning any
of the feed-in tariff [FiT] for offshore wind in increase on today’s level – over the next three
China by the end of 2021 clearly motivated a years.
Week 04 26•January•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7
