Country added more solar capacity in 2023 alone than U.S. has all-time
China installed a larger amount of new solar capacity in 2023 than the total amount ever installed in any other nation, augmenting what was already considered a dominant position in the global renewable energy landscape, according to a March 6 report from Carbonbrief.org and Bloomberg News.
Shouhang 10MW solar tower plant (credit: Shouhang)
According to the national energy administration (NEA), China added 217 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity in 2023, a figure which surpasses its previous record of 87GW in 2022 and exceeds the “entire solar fleet of 175GW in the US”, the news outlet adds. Reuters also reported the NEA figures, saying China’s total solar capacity increased by 55% last year, while wind capacity grew by 21%.
China Energy Net additionally reported that Liu Gang, deputy director of the market supervision department of the NEA, says that “issues exist in building a nationwide unified power market”, including “improper market intervention in certain regions” and “unauthorised designation of trading parties, specified trading volumes and fixed trading prices," adding that "China’s development of new energy storage is “progressing rapidly, with installed capacity already exceeding 30GW”.