China Invested 8 Billion Yuan in Solar Power Plants in 102 Months

The use of clean energy is becoming increasingly common in China in line with the goals of "reducing carbon emissions". The development of the photovoltaic sector in the country in recent years draws attention. In the January-August period of 2022, it was announced that the investment in electricity generation with photovoltaic panels in China increased approximately three times compared to the same period of the previous year.

According to data recently released by China's National Energy Administration, investment in electricity generation across the country in the first eight months of the year amounted to 18,7 billion yuan, an increase of 320 percent compared to the same period last year. Among these, the biggest increase was the investment in electricity generation with photovoltaic panels. Investments in this field increased by 323,8 percent in the eight-month period, reaching 102 billion 500 million yuan. Investments in electricity generation in the second-ranking thermal power plants, on the other hand, increased by 60,1 percent to 48 billion yuan.

As of August, electricity generation with photovoltaic panels became the country's second largest source of electricity, after power generation at thermal power plants. While the total installed capacity of solar power generation across the country increased by 27,2 percent on an annual basis to 350 million kilowatts, the installed capacity of electricity generation based on wind power exceeded 16,6 million kilowatts with an increase of 340 percent on an annual basis.

Thanks to the various incentive policies implemented by the Chinese government, domestic enterprises operating in the photovoltaic sector are also growing rapidly. According to the data, in 2021, more than 70 percent of photovoltaic modules in global markets were offered by China. In China, which ranks first in the world in the field of new energy, the annual income of more than 10 companies serving in the photovoltaic sector exceeded the limit of 10 billion yuan as of last year. Five of them have annual revenues of more than 30 billion yuan.

Renewable energy installed power exceeded 1 billion kilowatts

China has set goals to reach a peak in carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. For this reason, the use of renewable energy has been rapidly encouraged in the country in recent years.

The data show that in 2021, China's share of clean energy consumption in total energy consumption has increased by 11 percentage points to 25,5 percent compared to a decade ago. The share of coal consumption in the country, on the other hand, decreased by 12,5 points compared to ten years ago, to 56 percent. In addition, the installed power of electricity generation based on wind and solar energies in the country increased by 2012 times last year compared to 12, and the annual new energy electricity generation exceeded 1 trillion kilowatts for the first time.

The installed capacity of electricity generation based on renewable energy in China has exceeded 1 billion 100 million kilowatts. China ranks first in the world in terms of installed power of electricity generation based on water, wind and solar energies.