Operational renewable energy projects might see substantial growth

China might see a substantial growth in operational renewable energy projects this year, anticipated by the China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute on Friday.

Conventional hydropower is expected to see 6 gigawatts of new capacity this year. Pumped storage hydropower's total capacity is projected to increase by 6GW, bringing the total operational capacity to 57GW by year-end. Wind power is forecasted to have around 70GW of newly grid-connected capacity, while solar power is expected to add about 190GW this year, said the CREEI.

Since 2020, China has consistently increased renewable energy capacity by over 100GW annually. Last year, the country saw 303GW of new renewable energy capacity, surpassing the combined total of all other countries worldwide. This accounted for 84.9 percent of China's new power capacity and about 59.8 percent of newly increased renewable energy capacity globally.

By the end of 2023, China's installed renewable energy capacity reached 1516.4GW, marking a year-on-year increase of 24.9 percent. This included 370.6GW of conventional hydropower, 50.9GW of pumped storage hydropower, 441.3GW of wind power, 609.5GW of solar power and 44.1GW of biomass power.