(Zhou Guohong, director of CEIS Jiangsu Center, releases the report.)
NANJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- China Economic Information Service (CEIS) of Xinhua News Agency released the Annual Report on Global Green Energy Application and Development (2016-2017) at the International Green Energy Development Conference on September 16 in Yangzhong, East China’s Jiangsu Province.
According to the report, the transformation of the global energy structure is expected to accelerate further thanks to the high concern of governments, technological innovation, application expansion and rising social recognition.
The report points out several significant characteristics and trends in the application and development of green energy:
First, major countries around the world have accelerated their transformation to green and clean energy. 176 countries have formulated policy goals in green energy development and application.
Second, the energy consumption structure is continuously being optimized. It is estimated that electricity generated from green energy sources will account for 28 percent of the world’s total power generation by 2021. The global market for green energy is expected to maintain strong development momentum in the next five years.
Third, the costs of photovoltaic and wind power generation have dropped significantly, but the potentials for technological innovation in green energy are far from being fully realized.
Fourth, China has become the world’s largest investor in green energy. The key enterprises in the sector are developing steadily with profits on the rise.
According to the statistics of the National Energy Administration and REN21, China has the largest installed capacity of photovoltaic and wind power in the world in 2016. The country’s investment in the green energy sector reached 87.8 billion US dollars in the year, ranking the first in the world, and the total revenues of key listed new energy enterprises in China steadily increased, with the total profits reaching a five-year high.
Fifth, as the only high-proportion new energy demonstration city in the eastern coastal China, Yangzhong is rising as the “green energy island” and has paved a "Yangzhong Path” for green energy development.
According to the report, China’s green energy policy and industrial system are gradually improving but still face some bottlenecks and problems. The energy system is still dominated by conventional energy. A mechanism that is commensurate with the large-scale development of green energy has not yet been established. The planning and construction of supporting grids for green energy still lag behind. Contradictions exist in the trans-provincial allocation of resources. Basic and applied research is still weak and the cost of development and utilization is still relatively high.
The report suggests that China should further improve the institution and mechanism to create a good environment for green energy development and application. The country should open up the absorption channels for green energy power, optimize the subsidy for renewable energy, deepen the reform of the finance and taxation system to enhance capital support, foster benchmark enterprises, and encourage cooperation and coordinated innovation among enterprises.
China Economic Information Service, as the main market entity of economic information business of Xinhua News Agency, closely follows and makes research on the development of the green energy industry and contributes to the advancement and application of green energy. (Contributed by Yang Qi, Huang Xiaolan, huangxiaolan@xinhua.org)