China’s Top Power Producer On Course to Beat Renewables Target

Bloomberg News, Bloomberg News

A slogan stands among photovoltaic panels at a solar power station operated by Huanghe Hydropower Development Co., a unit of State Power Investment Corp., at the Golmud Solar Park on the outskirts of Golmud, Qinghai province, China, on Tuesday, July 24, 2018. China has emerged as the global leader in clean power investment after it spent $127 billion in renewable energy last year as it seeks to ease its reliance on coal and reduce smog in cities, according to a report jointly published by the United Nations and Bloomberg New Energy Finance in April. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- China Energy Investment Corp., the country’s biggest power producer, said it’s well on course to overshoot its target of 40% renewables in its overall generation capacity by 2025.

The state-owned company, the world’s largest coal and wind power producer, expects the goal to be met this year due to the expansion of its renewable hubs in China’s deserts and deployments of offshore wind, it said in a statement.

By achieving a total 115 GW of clean power capacity at the end of 2023, the company has already surpassed the 100 GW target it had set for 2025, reaching 35.5% renewables in its energy mix. The firm is also deploying green hydrogen, storage and geothermal projects in a bid to diversify its portfolio, it said in the statement.

Read More: China’s Remote Deserts are Hiding an Energy Revolution

China Energy Investment already has the world biggest wind power fleet and has steadily increased renewable investment under Beijing’s carbon neutrality goal, which involves peaking coal use by 2025. Still, decarbonization efforts have slowed in recent years as Beijing focused more on energy security due to rises in fuel prices that were partially driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.