China is on track to almost double its wind and solar capacity by 2025 and blow past its clean power target five years early, Global Energy Monitor has said.
The country has announced or begun construction on enough projects for total wind and solar capacity to likely reach 1,371 gigawatts (GW) by 2025, the climate research firm said in a new report.
That would vastly outstrip a goal set by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in late 2020 of having 1,200GW of panels and turbines by 2030.
Photo: EPA-EFE
China has installed record amounts of solar each of the past two years and is turbo-charging its efforts this year as an easing of supply chain bottlenecks drives down the price of panels.
Still, the country is mining record amounts of coal and building a new fleet of generators powered by the fossil fuel — and striking new long-term deals to buy natural gas — to avoid shortages that have plagued its electricity system in recent years.
“China is making strides, but with coal still holding sway as the dominant power source, the country needs bolder advancements in energy storage and green technologies for a secure energy future,” Global Energy Monitor researcher Martin Weil said.
Clean power installations this year could hit 154GW of solar, 55.7GW of onshore wind power and 8.3GW of offshore wind, according to BloombergNEF forecasts.
That is in line with an assessment published on Wednesday by the China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute, an advisory body with close links to the Chinese National Energy Administration (NEA), which has predicted solar installations of about 100GW and 60GW of wind for this year.
China already installed 61.2GW of solar power between January and last month, according to the NEA, outpacing a previous assessment from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association.
Wind installations are also rebounding after pandemic-related delays, while fierce domestic competition among manufacturers is keeping costs in check.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed