Reports from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) or other authoritative energy market analysts

China Leads Global Green Energy Transition with 263 GW Solar Installations, 80% Share in Solar Manufacturing

Sep 16, 2024, 01:06 PM

China has significantly accelerated its efforts in the green energy transition, installing a staggering 263 gigawatts of new solar power in 2023, out of a global total of 425 gigawatts. This represents a substantial portion of the 428 gigawatts of solar capacity installed worldwide last year. China's share of global solar manufacturing has surged to 80% by 2023, a dramatic increase from just 1% in 2004. In contrast, the American share of global solar manufacturing has plummeted from 13% in 2004 to below 1% in 2023. Additionally, nearly two-thirds of all large solar and wind plants being built globally this year are in China. This rapid deployment of green energy is occurring at more than eight times the scale of any other country. Last year, the total net growth in global electricity demand was 627 terawatt hours, with China alone adding 606 terawatt hours. Despite these advancements, China continues to expand its coal production pipeline, which is more than twice the size of the existing US production.