China will continue to implement low-carbon reforms according to the energy regulator

The energy regulator in China said that China would continue to phase out fossil fuels, and reform its electricity system. It issued a paper on Thursday listing achievements, but lacking new plans for China’s energy transition.

Zhang Jianhua, the head of China's National Energy Administration, said that China will continue to reform its electric system, expand the market for spot electricity, promote green electricity trade and replace fossil fuels by renewable energy. He also called on market-oriented reforms.

Zhang, speaking at a State Council press conference, China's cabinet said that China had invested $676 billion last year in its energy transformation. Zhang cited a research organisation BloombergNEF which estimated China’s energy investment to be 38% of global total.

Although its power system is still heavily dependent on coal, the world's second largest economy has emerged as one of the global leaders in transitioning to renewable energy.

When asked if China's carbon emission could peak before 2030, as many experts claim it will, Song Wen, deputy director of the agency's planning department, said: "The dual-carbon target will not change and we will not move our major targets."

China's goal was to install 1,200 gigawatts (or more) of wind and solar energy by 2030. But a surge in renewable installations allowed it to achieve this goal six years earlier, in July.

Li Changjun, director of the new energy department, was asked if China could set a more ambitious renewables target for 2030. He replied that China would come up with new goals and measure based on national conditions.

Analysts claim that China has fallen behind in achieving other goals. One of these is to reduce the carbon intensity (CO2 emissions per unit economic output) by 18% between now and 2030. According to a report by the non-profit organization Carbon Brief, China would have to reduce its absolute emissions by 7% per year this year and by 2025 in order to achieve that goal.

The whitepaper outlined a number of previously announced initiatives, from improving energy storage technologies to promoting energy efficiency.

In a chapter dedicated to the promotion of a "global future community", China said it is working on green energy under its Belt and Road Initiative, whose infrastructure program is massive. The chapter highlighted Pakistan's Karot Hydropower Station, which is part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and has recently been under threat from separatist militant attacks.

(source: Reuters)