Green energy making greater contributions

China's renewable energy generation capacity and installed capacity recorded steady growth during the first half amid the country's efforts to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon neutrality, official data showed.

China generated 1.25 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity from renewable energy during the January-June period, according to a release issued by the National Energy Administration on Tuesday.

Newly added installed capacity for renewable energy power generation rose to 54.75 million kilowatts during the first six months, accounting for 80 percent of the country's total newly installed power generation, said Wang Dapeng, an official with the NEA.

By the end of June, China's accumulative installed capacity for renewable energy rose to around 1.12 billion kW, including 400 million kW from hydropower, 342 million kW from wind, 336 million kW from solar and 39.5 million kW from biomass, Wang said.

Overall first-half energy sector investment was up 15.9 percent year-on-year, including the approval of six nuclear units, the operation of 10 hydropower stations and pumped-storage hydro projects, as well as some ultrahigh voltage direct current projects, said the administration.

The country added 1.3 million charging poles during the January-June period, 3.8 times higher than the same period of 2021.It has also come up with more than 270 hydrogen refueling stations by the end of June as it develops its hydrogen refueling network construction nationwide, it said.

China is the world's largest producer of wind and solar energy as well as the top domestic and outbound investor in renewable energy, and has for years been the leader in renewable energy figures.

An analyst said China's renewable energy sector has made remarkable progress over the past decade and has promoted the country's green development and made major contributions to the global fight against climate change.

Wei Hanyang, a power market analyst at research firm BloombergNEF, believes the country's renewable energy will see steady growth and solar power will embrace another wave of massive installations given that solar module prices may settle at a less costly level.

Wei said China will still manage to keep up with rapid deployments in renewable energy with rising demand for onshore wind and solar panels.

According to the administration, traditional energy supply capacity has also been on the rise. During the first six months, crude and natural gas production rose 4 percent and 4.9 percent year-on-year, respectively, while coal output rose 11 percent year-on-year to 78.9 million tons so far this year.

Imports of crude oil and gas reached 250 million tons and 74.4 billion cubic meters, respectively, during the first six months and that for coal reached 115 million tons, it said.