The Daily Update: Renewable Surge

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world's renewable energy industry grew at its fastest pace since 1999 last year despite the disruption caused by the global pandemic. The energy watchdog revealed that the delivery of renewable energy projects, including solar power and wind farms projects grew by 45% last year in a step change for the global industry. Wind power led the way with capacity having doubled over the last year.

The news comes as the Chinese government announced that the country's five biggest state-backed power firms will develop about 305 gigawatts of new wind and solar capacity over the next five years according to an article on Bloomberg. The new clean energy proposal will be nearly twice the amount the US planned to install over the same period. If the strategy goes according to plan, at peak generation, there will be enough power generated for the whole of Japan. Last December President Xi Jinping said China would have about 1,200 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity by 2030, as it strives to peak its emissions by 2030 and get to carbon neutrality by 2060.

However, it is not all good news on the renewable front. Whilst the ambitious plans for more renewable energy take shape the power firms will continue to add new domestic coal power projects. China mines and burns half the world’s coal, however, by pushing power firms to transition to renewables, policy makers will be hoping to accelerate coal’s demise.