There are signs that China is moving toward more utility-scale solar, Joseph Webster, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center, and editor of the China-Russia Report, writes in an opinion piece for EnergySource. That should help with decarbonization efforts, he argues, but obstacles remain — including inexpensive coal and limited interprovincial electricity transfers.
By virtually any metric, China is undeniably the world’s solar superpower. It deployed more solar capacity in 2023 than the United States has installed in its history; it also dominates the manufacturing supply chain, especially for wafers. These achievements are remarkable. Yet China’s track record on solar, a critical decarbonization tool, is hardly above criticism, including in its domestic market.
Owing to its deployment patterns and underlying resource constraints, China’s solar usage rates, known as capacity utilization factors, are among the lowest in the world. But this could be about to change. Recent data suggest that China may be shifting from distributed solar to utility-scale solar, which would, all things being equal, raise the overall efficiency of its electricity grid while aiding decarbonization. Given that China is by far both the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and coal consumer, its domestic solar deployments will have global consequences. However, several hurdles hindering the country from reaching its domestic solar potential have emerged.
“China builds more utility-scale solar as competition with coal ramps up,” By Joseph webster, EnergySource, Atlantic Council Global Energy center, May 9, 2024.
Read the full opinion piece originally published May 9, 2024.
