New wind and solar power capacity hits record

China's newly installed combined wind and solar power capacity reached a record 125 million kilowatts last year, bringing the tally of total installed capacity to over 1.2 billion kW, as the country stepped up efforts to ensure energy security while facilitating green energy transition, the National Energy Administration said on Monday.

Newly installed capacity of renewable energy reached 152 million kW last year, or 76.2 percent of the country's total newly added installed energy capacity, including 37.63 million kW of wind power, 87.41 million kW of solar power and 3.34 million kW of biomass power generation, said Wang Dapeng, an official with the National Energy Administration, during a news briefing held in Beijing on Monday.

According to the administration, renewable energy accounted for 47.3 percent of the country's total power generation capacity by the end of 2022, up 2.5 percentage points compared with a year prior.

China also saw several landmark energy projects completed in 2022, including the world's largest clean energy corridor, and the most efficient compressed air energy storage station, it said.

An analyst said China saw steady increases in a variety of energy resources in 2022 as the country stepped up efforts to ensure sufficient energy supply amid a volatile global marketplace.

China's attempts to greatly expand its wind and solar power capacity will further facilitate the country's low-carbon energy transition and ensure domestic energy security, said Luo Zuoxian, head of intelligence and research at the Sinopec Economics and Development Research Institute.

The administration said it will further push forward technological innovation in solar and wind power in the country. It will also speed up the construction of solar and wind power generation facilities in the Gobi Desert and other arid regions amid efforts to boost renewable energy, as well as boost construction of offshore wind power bases.

Additionally, the growth of new types of power storage installations has also been gaining momentum in recent years. By the end of last year, installed capacity of new types of power storage projects that have entered operation rose to 8.7 million kW, up more than 100 percent year-on-year, it said.