China goes full throttle on green energy transition to achieve carbon neutrality

The development of new energy has since quickened in Guizhou, said Shi. By the end of 2020, the province had installed more than 5.8 million kilowatts of wind power capacity.

Guizhou's first photovoltaic power station started operation in 2015, and by the end of 2020, the province's installed photovoltaic power capacity had exceeded 10.57 million kilowatts.

The Xianshuiwo photovoltaic power plant in Yina township of Bijie city, Guizhou, is built at an elevation of around 2,200 meters. The power plant with rows of solar panels glittering in the sun has helped the local households make good use of their wastelands and photovoltaic resources. It is estimated that the power plant will generate around 504 million kWh of electricity with an average of 1,231 hours of solar power utilization in 2021.

At the Wujiangyuan wind power plant, 198 generator units rotate in the wind. "Though wind farms are demanding in their locations, they can bring huge economic and social benefits to the local residents. The wind power plants are conducive to adjusting the regional energy structure and cutting carbon and harmful gas emission," said Xu Chaohua, vice general manager of Guizhou clean energy branch under China Huaneng Group.

The Wujiangyuan wind farm has generated over 4.2 billion kWh of power since it started operation, which is equivalent to saving 1.33 million tonnes of standard coal. A total of 3.65 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and 119,900 tonnes of sulfur dioxide have been slashed annually thanks to the wind turbines.

By the end of 2020, more than 40 percent of China's installed power generation capacity came from renewable resources, supporting nearly one third of the country's electricity consumption, data from the National Energy Administration showed.

As a result, 15.9 percent of China's primary energy consumption came from non-fossil energy, surpassing a target of 15 percent set for 2020.

In 2018, the National Energy Administration launched a three-year action plan to improve the utilization rate of renewable energy in power generation. Last year, the average utilization rate of wind power and photovoltaic power reached 97 percent and 98 percent, respectively.