Chinese firms have achieved a significant milestone in their overseas power development efforts, installing a record 24 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in Belt & Road (B&R) countries in 2024, according to a new report from Wood Mackenzie.
This marks a doubling of the capacity installed in 2023 and represents the highest level of investment since the B&R Initiative was launched in 2013.
Renewable energy sources led the 2024 installations, with 52 per cent of projects employing green technologies.
Solar power contributed 8 GW, while hydroelectric power added 5 GW to the mix.
The remaining 48 per cent of projects were thermal power, including 6 GW of legacy coal plants and 6 GW of gas and oil plants.
Alex Whitworth, Vice President and head of Asia Pacific power and renewables research at Wood Mackenzie, noted the remarkable growth in overseas solar projects.
“Chinese companies are heavily prioritising greener technologies overseas and these make up over two-thirds of the project pipeline,” Whitworth stated.
Despite this shift towards renewables, the report highlighted that 19 GW of coal power projects and 9 GW of gas projects remain in various stages of development.
These projects face potential cancellations due to the global move away from coal and China’s 2021 policy of ‘No new overseas coal power’.
Since the launch of the B&R Initiative, Chinese companies have installed a total of 156 GW of power projects in participating countries.
Yanqi Cao, managing consultant at Wood Mackenzie, reported that between 2013 and 2024, these companies completed 369 overseas power projects, representing an investment of approximately US$281 billion.
The B&R Initiative continues to focus primarily on developing countries, with Asia accounting for 70 per cent of the installed capacity and Africa following at 15 per cent.
The top five B&R markets — Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia — are projected to see substantial growth in wind and solar installations over the next decade.
As Chinese manufacturers drive down the costs of renewable power technology, they are leading its deployment in many developing markets that previously couldn’t afford it.
This trend is expected to continue, with Chinese companies potentially accounting for 80 per cent of wind and solar capacity in the top five B&R markets by 2030, up from just 7 per cent five years ago.
