China became the biggest producer of solar energy

China became the biggest producer of solar energy

Question: As per a recent report by the National Energy Administration, China has become world’s biggest producer of solar energy. What is the share of solar energy to China’s total power generation?
(a) 2 percent
(b) 1 percent
(c) 1.25 percent
(d) 1.5 percent
Ans:(b)

  • China has emerged as world’s biggest producer of solar energy as per data shared by the National Energy Administration (NEA) of China on 4th February, 2017.
  • The country has doubled installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity. Solar plants generated 66.2 billion kilowatt-hours of power last year, accounting for 1 percent of China’s total power generation.
  • As per the data by the Energy Agency, the Installed PV capacity has risen to 77.42 gigawatts at the end of 2016, with the addition of 34.54 gigawatts over the course of the year.
  • Shandong, Xinjiang, Henan were among the provinces that saw the most capacity increase, while Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia had the greatest overall capacity at the end of last year.
  • National Energy Administration has planned to add more than 110 gigawatts of capacity in the 2016-2020 period.
  • The country aims to boost the mix of non-fossil fuel generated power to 20 percent by 2030 from 11 percent today.
  • China plans to invest 2.5 trillion Yuan ($364 billion) into renewable power generation by 2020.

Reference:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-solar-idUSKBN15J0G7
http://en.ndrc.gov.cn/