China is way ahead of the whole world on building renewable energy sources, new report shows

Beijing, China - A newly released study has confirmed that China is leading the world when it comes to wind and solar energy, building twice as much capacity as the rest of the world combined!

China's wind and solar projects vastly outnumber the rest of the world.
China's wind and solar projects vastly outnumber the rest of the world.  © AFP/Hector Retamal

The study, completed by San Francisco-based Global Energy Monitor (GEM) and published in a July 2024 briefing, compared the scale of solar and wind energy construction projects across all countries.

It identified China, the US, Brazil, the UK, and Spain as the five most successful countries in the world when it comes to increasing their solar and wind capacity.

China's projects will add 339 gigawatts (GW) to the grid, outperforming all other countries combined, included the four runners-up. In total, China accounts for 64% of utility scale solar and wind power across the globe.

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"China is cementing its position as the global leader in renewables development with 180 GW of utility-scale solar and 159 GW of wind power already under construction," the report revealed.

"The total of the two is nearly twice as much as the rest of the world combined, and enough to power all of South Korea, according to new data from Global Energy Monitor."

China's solar and wind efforts not without obstacles

Despite the huge success reported in the study, the study authors pointed out some obstacles standing in China's path to a sustainable future.

In particular, they highlighted China's heavy reliance on coal and other fossil fuels "to mitigate the intermittency of renewables." Additionally, the transmission and distribution of power poses a serious challenge.

Despite these issues, the report was fulsome in its praise of China's "commitment to building renewables projects."

Cover photo: AFP/Hector Retamal

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