China's lead in renewable energy a boon to world

China's dominance in renewable energy production is driving down costs and accelerating global deployment, making clean energy more affordable worldwide, said industry experts and company executives.

The scale of China's new renewable capacity has made renewable energy affordable worldwide, said Ilina Radoslavova Stefanova, head of coalition for action, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

"China plays a pivotal role in the global clean energy supply chain, particularly in solar PV modules, battery cells, and balance-of-system components. This scale has enabled learning curve effects that have driven down costs and accelerated global deployment," she said.

According to Stefanova, in 2024 alone, the world added approximately 582 gigawatts of new renewable capacity, with China contributing nearly 370 GW, representing over 60 percent of the global total.

This massive contribution primarily comes from solar photovoltaic and wind energy, highlighting China's leadership in these key renewable technologies, she said.

"China shows what's possible when policy, scale and speed align. The government's commitment to advance renewables is shown through its enabling policies and regulation."

The global energy storage market is experiencing explosive growth driven by technological advancements and rapidly declining costs, according to a report released by IRENA at the World Energy Storage Conference in Ningde, Fujian province, recently.

The report underscores the pivotal role of energy storage in facilitating the transition to a sustainable energy future, highlighting that the combination of solar power and energy storage is increasingly becoming the most economical green energy solution, more economical than the solution of coal+CCUS, or carbon capture, utilization and storage.

This shift signifies a fundamental change in the economics of energy production, with renewable sources coupled with storage becoming increasingly competitive against traditional fossil fuel-based power generation, it said.

"Energy storage is a key technology for smoothing the intermittency and volatility of renewable energy sources, and is an important means of meeting the flexibility adjustment needs of the power grid during the energy transition," said Meng Xiangfeng, vice-president of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, at the conference.

CATL, a major battery company, collaborated with IRENA on the report, providing valuable insights into the technological advancements and cost reductions driving the energy storage revolution.

"To effectively integrate renewable energy sources, energy storage is essential for managing their inconsistent output. This technology plays a vital role in ensuring that the power grid can adapt to the changing energy landscape by providing flexibility," he said.

"Currently, with the iterative upgrading of technology, energy storage costs are rapidly declining, and the global energy storage market is experiencing explosive growth."

By the end of 2024, the cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage projects worldwide reached approximately 180 GW, nearly double the figure at the end of 2023 — approximately 90 GW.

Among these, China's newly installed capacity in 2024 reached 42.37 GW, accounting for 47 percent of the global increase, making it a leading force in the global energy storage industry.

The IRENA report, the agency's first dedicated to energy storage, notes that lithium-ion battery storage is progressively extending its response time to four-eight hours or even longer, positioning it as a crucial technology for energy storage of longer duration to meet the grid's need for flexible regulation over extended periods.

This extended duration capability is essential for ensuring grid stability and reliability as renewable energy sources become a larger part of the energy mix, it said.

The report urges countries to integrate energy storage into their top-level grid planning and design. It also recommends improving electricity market rules and mechanisms to expand revenue channels for energy storage in peak shaving, ancillary services, and capacity support.

These recommendations aim to create a more favorable regulatory and economic environment for energy storage deployment, encouraging investment and innovation in the sector, said Stefanova.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn