The Chinese government plans to construct 450 GW of renewable energy generating projects in the Gobi Arid and other desert areas to accomplish its sustainability goals. The government intends to establish solar and wind energy installations in the area as part of this initiative. Accordingly, ultra-high voltage electricity transmission lines and coal-fired power plants would be required to secure the power grid’s stability in order to accommodate large-scale renewable energy installations in the country.
Recent reports suggest that China had installed 306 GW of solar capacity and 328 GW of wind energy capacity by the end of last year. In addition, over 100 GW of solar capacity is now under construction in the desert. The Chinese President has already pledged to boost the country’s renewable energy capacity to at least 1.2 GW by 2030, as well as guaranteeing the country’s carbon emissions are at their lowest level by that year.
In November 2021, Sembcorp Industries, a Singapore-based renewable energy company, acquired a 98 per cent stake in a 658 MW portfolio of operational wind and solar assets from GCN Capital Partners Infrastructure Fund III and its affiliates for $517 million through its 100 per cent subsidiary Sembcorp Energy (Shanghai). The assets are contracted and qualified for fixed feed-in tariffs under China’s renewable energy programme, and are located in energy demand areas such as Hebei, Henan, and Shandong provinces. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022.
