VATIS UPDATE Article

The National Energy Administration (NEA), China, has announced it will invest 2.5 trillion yuan (£291bn) in renewable energy by 2020 as it continues with its plan to move away from burning coal. According to a blueprint document which aims to increase the country’s wind, hydro, solar and nuclear power industries, the investment by NEA is set to create over 13 million jobs in the sector. The extra investment would fund around half of new electricity generation by 2020.

The announcement comes after China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said that solar power would receive a trillion yuan in funding – the equivalent of 1,000 major solar power plants, according to experts’ estimates. The cost of building large-scale solar plants has fallen by as much as 40 per cent in just six years. China, regarded as the world’s largest energy market, has moved heavily towards renewable energy in the past few years as its increasingly wealthier population has called for better standards of living.