China’s renewable energy capacity increased from 27.8GW in 2001 to 183GW in 2013, and alternative sources are expected to account for more than 20% of the country’s total electricity generation by 2020, says research and consulting firm GlobalData.
The company’s latest report, Asia-Pacific Renewable Energy Policy Handbook 2014, states that China’s emergence as a major player in the global renewable energy industry, and the leading country in the Asia-Pacific region, has been accelerated by a combination of government encouragement and market guidance. The country has introduced Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) at the state and provincial level in order to promote the development of alternative energy, which has contributed to substantial capacity additions over the last decade, especially those of wind and solar power. This growth is expected to continue thanks to the government’s ambitious targets for renewables. China is aiming to add 15GW of solar Photovoltaic, 5GW of wind, 0.53GW of geothermal and 3.3GW of biomass power by 2015, according to GlobalData.