China has proved the impossible. Supplying solar energy will pay off more than coal, it will beat Europe with the price – FonTech

China has reached an incredible milestone that many opponents and skeptics have long rejected and argued was impossible. The price of solar energy has reached the level of the price of electricity, which is produced by coal-fired power plants, informs the Ars Technica portal.

Will they overtake Europe as well?

China owes an important milestone to the huge reduction in the price of photovoltaic systems, falling by as much as 63% between 2011 and 2018. Of course, at the same time as prices fell, the use of solar energy increased to such an extent that a third of solar energy on Earth is generated in China.

China currently has more than 250 GW of solar panels in its hands, which is more than double the country’s required economic plan. China wants to become a carbon-neutral country by 2060, which may not be the most ambitious plan compared to some European countries, but it is certainly welcome.

Although China is widely considered to be the biggest polluter, its population must be taken into account. In terms of per capita emissions, more are produced by Germany, the United States and even Kazakhstan. But more than ten million tons a year is a huge number and there is no reason for a large population not to reduce them.

The network has serious problems

The huge production of clean energy is great, but it has one big catch. The best environment and weather for its production is in the northwest of the country, but most of the population lives on the opposite side in the southeast.

In addition, China does not yet have the necessary capacity to bring clean energy to densely populated areas over such long distances. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Recently, the world learned about the largest clean energy project to date, connecting 4,200 km – Australia and Singapore.

Sun Cable

But how presents a new study, the technical potential of solar energy in China is up to 100 petawatts – or 100,000,000 GW, which is approximately 13 times China’s energy demand. In addition, thanks to technological advances, this potential can increase to 150 petawatts.

Its price will drop drastically

The price of solar energy in China is currently at € 42.6 / MW, but according to current assumptions it will fall to only € 11.2 / MW by 2030 and to € 2.6 / MW by 2060. Solar energy is thus scientists are already more advantageous than coal in China today, without taking into account the adverse health and environmental impacts that accompany fossil fuels.

Experts also recommend the implementation of batteries in which it is possible to store excess electricity generated by solar farms and supply it at night. This largely eliminates the need to start other power plants.

Pixabay / Tesla / Edit Editor

Covering China with the necessary batteries alone would mean minutes to 36% of current global cobalt reserves. This is also one of the reasons why battery innovation is so important and why some carmakers are moving away from cobalt batteries. Some Tesla electric vehicles, for example, use lithium iron-phosphate batteriesthat do not need valuable and rare cobalt.