According to a new roadmap, China aims to double its wind and solar capacity by 2025, which also allows the world’s second-largest economy to increase the number of coal-fired power plants to improve energy security.
The world’s biggest polluter has previously calculated that it needs to double its use of wind and solar power by 2030 to meet its commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement.
The plan, if implemented, means that China could achieve this goal sooner, reports France-Presse (AFP) today, June 2.
In recent months, Beijing has also increased its reliance on coal-fired power plants to prop up an ailing economy as the geopolitical crisis over the conflict in Ukraine pushes up global energy prices, of which China is the largest importer.
China’s central economic plan calls for 33 percent of the electricity supplied to the national grid by 2025 to come from renewable sources, up from 29 percent in 2020, a document released Wednesday said.
“In 2025, annual electricity generation from renewable energy sources will reach about 3.3 trillion kilowatt-hours, while wind and solar energy generation will double,” the document says.
According to researchers, China, already the world’s largest producer of renewable energy, has accelerated investment in wind and solar projects to combat indoor pollution, which kills millions of people every year.
Beijing has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060. Investment in solar energy almost tripled in the first four months of the year to 29 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) from investment from January to April of the previous year, data from the National Energy Administration showed.
But China’s energy policy remains a two-headed beast: the country annually burns about half of the coal used worldwide to power its economy, AFP notes.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that coal is at the heart of the country’s energy security. It happened at an emergency meeting convened last week to address economic concerns.
China’s central bank previously approved a $15 billion credit line to finance coal mining and coal-fired power plants. In March, the Cabinet of Ministers ordered the miners to extract 300 million tons of coal this year.
The latest Chinese energy plan says renewables will provide “50 percent growth in electricity consumption” through 2025, lower than previous official estimates and signaling more room for China’s coal industry to expand.