China expected to achieve clean energy target six years ahead of schedule

As the world's largest manufacturing power, China is rapidly turning to green and clean energy. Recent energy reports show that the country is committed to implementing solar and wind power and is expected to achieve its 2030 clean energy goals by the end of this month.

China's Clean Energy Progress

Rapid Growth of Wind and Solar

As previously reported, renewable energy achieved record growth in 2023 and continues to trend upward. China, the world's most populous country and therefore the largest CO2 emitter, has taken aggressive steps to go green, especially as its infrastructure becomes more dependent on energy and its firm transition to BEVs (pure electric vehicles) and charging facilities.

According to the Global Wind Energy Council's Global Wind Energy Report 2024 released in April this year, China set a new record with 75GW of new installed capacity, accounting for nearly 65% of the global total.

Last month, China installed an 18MW offshore wind turbine, the most powerful in the world, furthering its clean energy transition. Other countries have also taken note of these efforts, including Germany, which will install Chinese-made wind turbines in its offshore wind farms.

In addition to wind, China has also fully embraced solar as an alternative source of clean energy. In June, it launched a 3.5 GW, 33,000-acre solar farm outside Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang—the largest in the world. As if that weren’t enough, China announced plans to build an 8 MW solar farm as part of an $11 billion integrated energy project led by China Three Gorges Renewable Energy Group.

Continued growth in clean energy installations

China is on track to meet its 1,200 GW wind and solar installation target this month, according to a July 2, 2024, Climate Energy Finance (CEF) report. The original timeline for achieving this green energy target was 2030, so China is an impressive six years ahead of schedule and shows no signs of slowing down.

In the first five months of 2024, China installed 103.5 GW of clean energy capacity, while its thermal additions fell 45% year-on-year. This suggests a transition away from coal and nuclear power toward cleaner alternatives while still meeting the growing demands of its local grid.

Just as it did in 2023, solar remains the country’s leader in capacity additions, installing 79.2 GW between January and May 2024, accounting for 68% of its total additions. This figure is already up 29% year-on-year and continues to trend upward.

Wind is China’s second-largest form of new energy, with 19.8GW of new capacity added in 2024, accounting for 17% of total additions. Wind power installations are up 21% year-on-year, and like solar, continue to grow from a record-breaking 2023.

According to CEF, China’s total wind and solar installed capacity reached 1,152GW at the end of May 2024, and at its current rate, should exceed its 2030 target of 1,200GW sometime this month.

While China quickly becomes a global leader in clean energy adoption, this is not the end. China still relies heavily on coal-fired power plants and will need to retire these facilities in favor of more sustainable options to truly offset its CO2 emissions.

Based on its efforts in the past year in particular, China seems to be on track to do so, but it must not slow down the pace of clean energy adoption. Push the goal and maintain momentum.