China Invested $676 Billion in Its Energy Transition Last Year

China invested a total of $676 billion in its energy transition last year, the Chinese authorities said on Thursday in a white paper on the country’s renewable energy market and energy pathways forward.

China led global investments in low-carbon energy in 2023, China’s State Council Information Office said in the white paper “China's Energy Transition”.

Since 2013, China has been responsible for over 40% of the annual additions to global renewable energy capacity. Last year, China’s newly installed renewables capacity accounted for more than half of the world’s total, the white paper showed.

At a news conference to present the white paper, the head of the National Energy Administration, Zhang Jianhu, said that China would continue to phase out fossil fuels, reform its electricity system, and promote green electricity trading.

China is pursuing rapid expansion of its renewable energy capacity, but it isn’t ditching coal.

China has yet to see its carbon dioxide emissions peak as it is a developing nation and has a massive population. The message came from the country’s National Energy Administration in response to speculation that China had achieved peak emissions before its own deadline.

“We should not forget that China is still a developing country, pursuing modernization for a huge population,” the head of law and institutional reform at the NEA, Song Wen, told media on Thursday.

The world’s second-largest economy leads in global renewable investments and installations and has a dominant role in many of the clean energy supply chains, including solar equipment, lithium processing, and mining and processing of other critical battery metals.

But China also continues to expand its coal-fired power fleet as its electricity demand grows, to ensure energy security and stable electricity supply, especially in peak demand periods. 

China has already reached its goal of having more non-fossil fuel installed electricity capacity than fossil fuels earlier than planned, with 50.9% of its power capacity now coming from non-fossil fuel sources. Back in 2021, the Chinese authorities said they would target renewables to outpace fossil fuel-installed capacity by 2025.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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