China is the world's leader in electricity production from renewable energy sources, with over triple the generation of the second-ranking country, the United States. China's renewable energy sector is growing faster than its fossil fuels and nuclear power capacity, and is expected to contribute 43 per cent of global renewable capacity growth. China's total renewable energy capacity exceeded 1,000 GW in 2021, accounting for 43.5 per cent of the country's total power generation capacity, 10.2 percentage points higher than in 2015. The country aims to have 80 per cent of its total energy mix come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2060, and achieve a combined 1,200 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2030. In 2023, it was reported that China was on track to reach 1,371 gigawatts of wind and solar by 2025, five years ahead of target due to new renewables installations breaking records.
China is the largest market in the world for both photovoltaics and solar thermal energy. China's photovoltaic industry began by making panels for satellites, and transitioned to the manufacture of domestic panels in the late 1990s. After substantial government incentives were introduced in 2011, China's solar power market grew dramatically: the country became the world's leading installer of photovoltaics in 2013. China surpassed Germany as the world's largest producer of photovoltaic energy in 2015, and became the first country to have over 100 GW of total installed photovoltaic capacity in 2017.
The Baihetan Dam is a large hydroelectric dam on the Jinsha River, an upper stretch of the Yangtze River in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, in southwest China. The dam is a 289-meter-tall double-curvature arch dam with a crest elevation of 827 m, and a width of 72 m at the base and 13 m at the crest. It is considered to be the last large hydropower project in China after a series of projects starting with the Three Gorges Dam. It is also the second largest hydropower plant in the world. The hydropower station is equipped with 16 hydro-generating units each having a capacity of 1 million kilowatts, the world's largest turbines. All hydro-generating units of the Baihetan hydropower station became fully operational on 20 December 2022.
China Power Investment Corporation also known as CPI Group was one of the five largest state-owned electricity producers in mainland China. It was administrated by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council. It was engaged in development, investment, construction, operation, and management of power plants and power generation in twenty-seven Chinese provinces. It supplies approximately ten percent of the country's electricity.
China is the world's largest electricity producer, having overtaken the United States in 2011 after rapid growth since the early 1990s. In 2021, China produced 8.5 petawatt-hour (Pwh) of electricity, approximately 30% of the world's electricity production.
Ultra-high-voltage electricity transmission has been used in China since 2009 to transmit both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) electricity over long distances separating China's energy resources and consumers. Expansion of both AC and DC capacity continues in order to match generation to consumption demands while minimizing transmission losses. Decarbonization improvements will result from the replacement of lower efficiency generation, located near the coast, by more modern high-efficiency generation with less pollution near the energy resources.
The Jiangxia Tidal Power Station (江厦潮汐电站) is the fourth largest tidal power station in the world, located in Wuyantou, Wenling City, Zhejiang Province, China. Although the proposed design for the facility was 3,000 kW, the in 1985 the installed capacity was 3,200 kW, generated from one unit of 500 kW, one unit of 600 kW, and three units of 700 kW. Proposals were made to install a sixth 700 kW unit, which was installed in June 2007. Then in 2014, the 500 kW turbine was upgraded to 700 kW, bringing the total installed capacity to 4.1 MW. The facility generates up to 6.5 GWh of power annually.
Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant near Sarnia, Ontario, is Canada's largest photovoltaic plant with an installed capacity of 97 MWP (80 MWAC).
Huanghe Hydropower's Golmud Solar park is a 200 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power station located in Golmud, Qinghai Province, China. Construction began in August 2009, and it was commissioned on October 29, 2011. 80 MW was provided by Yingli. The project won the 2012 China Quality Power Project Award. Output is expected to be 317 GWh per year.
CGN's Xitieshan Solar Park is a 100 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power station located in the Qinghai Province, China. Construction was completed in three phases, Xitieshan Phase I was 10 MW, Xitieshan Phase II was 30 MW, and Xitieshan Phase III was 60 MW. It was completed on 30 September 2011, and at the time was the largest grid connected photovoltaic power station in the world.
Hydroelectricity is currently China's largest renewable energy source and the second overall after coal. According to the International Hydropower Association, China is the worlds largest producer of hydroelectricity as of 2021. China's installed hydroelectric capacity in 2021 was 390.9 GW, including 36.4 GW of pumped storage hydroelectricity capacity, up from 233 GW in 2011. That year, hydropower generated 1,300 TWh of power, an increase of 68 TWh over 2018 when hydropower generated 1,232 TWh of power, accounting for roughly 18% of China's total electricity generation.
The Shigatse Photovoltaic Power Plant is a solar power plant located 3 km northwest of Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet, China. It was connected to the grid in July 2011.
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