China, for yet another calendar year, accounted for the world’s most renewables growth, including a recovery in hydropower that was impacted by a severe drought in southwestern provinces in 2022.
China’s thermal power generation, including coal and gas, capacity grew by around 35 GW or 2.7% in 2022, compared with around 145 GW or more than 14% growth, in renewables capacity (solar, wind and hydro), official data showed.
Renewables capacity (solar, wind and hydro) accounted for around 46% of China’s total power generation capacity, while actual non-fossil generation touched 30%, official data showed. China is likely to further narrow the gap between fossil fuels and non-fossil fuels.
China added a substantial amount of wind capacity in 2020 ahead of the subsidy for onshore wind projects being phased out by end-2020, which resulted in companies rushing to accelerate their projects.
The subsidy for offshore wind projects, which was phased out by end-2021, also resulted in an accelerated increase in offshore wind capacity; from an added 4 GW in 2020 to a 17 GW addition in 2021.
Hydropower growth slowed from 5.8% in 2022 to around 2.9% in 2023, with both the CEC and National Energy Agency setting a lower target of 410-420 GW for 2023, which means the government re-evaluated the role of hydropower in the energy mix after last year’s crisis.
China’s domestic voluntary carbon market, or China Certified Emission Reductions, could also be revived in 2023. Whether renewable energy projects can continue generating domestic carbon offsets under the rebooted system will be in focus.