Solar Power Helps China Reduce Fossil Fuel Imports By $150 Billion

The global fossil energy market has been in a state of volatility. In particular, over the past year, energy security has been reduced by the Russian-Ukrainian war, which has led to an energy crisis, soaring prices and a dependence on fossil fuels that exposes countries to market volatility.This vulnerability has led directly to increased energy poverty and slower economic growth. In addition to European countries, Asia is actually facing some form of energy crisis.

With the exception of Indonesia and India, most of the major fossil fuel consuming countries in Asia import large amounts of coal, oil and gas to meet their electricity needs. Many economies in Asia are equally vulnerable to sky-high global energy commodity prices.

In 2022, the cost of fossil fuel imports more than tripled in major Asian regions, putting increasing pressure on countries' expenditures and highlighting the crisis of continued reliance on fossil fuels.

The good news is that the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for renewables has fallen significantly due to technological advances in wind and photovoltaic solar over the last decade, with global onshore wind power seeing a 68% reduction in LCOE over the last decade and solar photovoltaic LCOE falling by 88%.

In many regions, renewable energy sources, mainly landscape, are providing the cheapest electricity in history. In the wake of soaring fossil fuel energy prices, the importance of energy diversification and renewables has become even more apparent.

Thanks to the massive deployment of solar power, the replacement of fossil fuel power by solar power has allowed seven Asian countries to avoid losses of at least US$34 billion in the first half of 2022 alone.

This is particularly evident in China, where solar energy met 5% of total electricity demand in the six months from January to June 2021, avoiding some $21 billion (approximately RMB 150 billion) in fossil fuel imports.