China expands solar energy adoption

A new IEA report on the clean energy market documents the continued expansion of renewable energy use around the world. In many ways, the active commissioning of capacity is supported by incentive measures from the governments of developed countries, as well as the setting of new ambitious goals at the international level (for example, see “Kommersant” dated December 13, 2023). At the end of last year, the volume of launches of new renewable energy capacity, according to IEA estimates, reached 540 GW, with 90% of this volume expectedly occurring in developed countries and China.

The acceleration in the pace of implementation of solar energy is especially noticeable: the volume of capacity launched in 2023 amounted to a record 420 GW versus 228 GW in 2022 and 171 GW in 2021 (see chart). The expansion of solar power from 2019 to 2023 is expected to reduce annual CO2 emissions by approximately 1.1 billion tons, equivalent to Japan’s annual emissions.

In China, the volume of solar photovoltaic systems commissioned over the past year increased 2.5 times (to 261 GW; this is noticeably more than half of the global volume). It should be noted that the competitiveness of solar generation in the country’s domestic energy market is supported by low prices for solar modules: since December 2022 they have fallen by 50%. In the United States, the expansion of the use of solar energy remains restrained (in 2023, the volume of installed capacity was 32 GW, in 2022 – 21 GW). One of the reasons may be the US trade confrontation with China – Beijing, we recall, remains the world’s main producer of silicon, the main material for the production of solar modules.

More than 60% of the world’s new wind energy capacity also came from China – compared to 2022, the country almost doubled its commissioning volumes (74 GW versus 37 GW). In the EU, where capacity added in 2023 is estimated at 16 GW (15 GW in 2022), the introduction of wind energy has long been hampered by what the IEA estimates are extremely complex permitting procedures for such projects. The problem has apparently been recognized in Europe itself: over the past two years, legislative regulation in this area has changed noticeably. However, the effect of the actions of the European authorities, analysts predict, will be noticeable no earlier than in two or three years.

Kristina Borovikova