China has emerged as the world’s renewable energy superpower. Image Courtesy – http://lithium-news.com
China has emerged as the world’s renewable superpower by increasing potentiality to develop clean energy and extending financial support for green technology throughout the world.
China is now the world’s largest producer of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles, but it has also become the world’s top investor in clean energy sector. China has been investing on clean energy for the last 9 years. China has invested on 12,622 megawatts (MW) of wind and solar projects in South and Southeast Asia, which is equivalent to nearly 21 thermal power stations to power up the total New York City.
Greenpeace campaigner Liu Junyan told that China has changed its movement from simply exporting products to supporting others financially. They have compelled to change their focus due to drying up of domestic subsidies in their homeland and new incentives to invest abroad. This policy has become helpful to uplift the name of the country in ‘green energy revolution movement’ for the future and profitability of the each project.
It has been the most positive drive of China to protect scarce resources, decreasing carbon emission that prompts global warming, as well as boosting energy security by reducing dependence on costly fuel import. While a handful of nations boast significant oil and natural gas stock, almost all the countries are developing clean energy – whether via solar, wind, tidal, geothermal or hydroelectric plants. They are making them less dependent on preserved natural oil and gas like the Middle East.
China has probably the greater number of energy patents with the US, Europe and Japan are lagging behind. Olafur Grimsson, the Chairman of the ‘Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation’, published a report that no country has placed itself in a better position to become the world’s renewable energy superpower than China. China has now clearly established its leading position in renewable energy segment – with related technologies like electric vehicles, transmission lines, battery storage etc. and it is managing green technology in a way that their strategic rival US may struggle to counter.
With a combination of rising domestic competition and decreasing rate of subsidies at home, Chinese investors have changed their outlook to invest on other countries. Cao Renxian, the CEO of Sungrow, told that they have been struggling with the US trade war and have found an alternative way to relocate production to India on account of slapping by Trump Administration with a hike of 25% tariff on imported solar panels produced in China. Cao Renxian, the CEO of one of the global leaders in renewable energy, told that after overcoming specific cultural, legal and linguistic barriers, they have secured their foothold abroad. He told that his company, Sungrow presently has stakes in 2 solar farms of a combined 90 MW in Vietnam, and is developing a new 60 MW solar farm 100 miles north of Melbourne, Australia. Cao explains his global effort as to boost environmental protection for China as well as the whole world with adding $1.4 billion revenues yearly.
