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Based on data up to the end of October, China is set to install 230GW in 2023 – which would represent a global record for a single year of renewables installations, Wood Mackenzie said. 

Alex Whitworth, vice president of Asia Pacific power and renewables research at Wood Mackenzie, pointed out that China had increased its wind and solar outlook for 2025 by 43% to 380GW “in just a couple of years” as it continues to increase the pace of renewable energy additions. 

The firm said it now expects China to reach a total of 592GW of wind capacity and 676GW of solar by 2025. 

Wood Mackenzie told “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç that actual renewable installations to the end of October in China included 143GW of solar and 37GW of wind.

“We expect wind to reach over 60GW by year end, and solar to reach 170GW, so wind is about 26% of the total,” a spokesperson for the consultancy said.

Transmission upgrades key

WoodMackenzie’s analysis showed that upgrades to China’s grids and transmission system was helping speed up new wind and solar additions. 

The country’s grid-connected energy storage has doubled in capacity since 2020, reaching 67GW in 2023, and is now expected to expand to 300GW by 2030. 

“Renewables investments are not sufficient to push the energy transition ahead. China has put massive investments in the grid, storage, flexible capacity and other backup systems to support renewables, which has allowed China’s renewables investments to grow faster than other markets,” the Wood Mackenzie spokesperson said. 

China has budgeted $455 billion in grid investments in 2021-2025, including long-distance transmission lines (over 1,000km) that have “unlocked” more than 100GW of onshore renewables, the report said. 

Manufacturing might

China’s unique position as the world’s dominant manufacturing power is also helping its surge in new wind and solar additions, which are in turn expected to cause a fall in carbon emissions by next year. 

Wood Mackenzie pointed out that the country manufactures more than 80% of global solar power equipment, while its large wind manufacturing OEMs supply its domestic demand and are now increasing their exports of wind turbines to other markets. 

“uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç reported previously that NGO the Global Energy Monitor expects China to break its goal of 1.2TW of renewable energy capacity by 2025 – five years earlier than the 2030 target date – in part thanks to its booming manufacturing sector. 

The country, which gets most of its energy from coal, has a current net-zero target of 2060. 

At a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, the two countries agreed to target a tripling of renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade, in line with recommendations from the International Energy Agency (IEA) on what actions are needed to meet global climate goals.