
Solar energy hits a milestone in China, US
- July 26, 2021
The United States and China are inching closer to reaching a milestone: the first 100 megawatts of solar energy have been installed in China.
In the United States, more than 2.2 million megawatts have been added to the grid since 2012.
That is more than twice as much as the same period last year.
More than 20,000 megawatts, or nearly 9 percent of the total, have been produced by the US.
China has also added more than 20 megawatts to its grid.
It added 2,200 megawatts last year and more than 3,100 megawatts in 2014.
That’s nearly two times more than the United Kingdom and Germany, both of which added 1,000 and 2,000 gigawatts respectively.
The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman have all added more megawatts.
China is also expanding its capacity.
The Chinese government has said it will add about 1.2 gigawatts of capacity by 2020, the first such increase in more than a decade.
In 2018, China surpassed the United Arab States as the world’s biggest energy consumer.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia were the next biggest, at more than 1,100 gigawatts.