New energy, renewable energy take nine pct in China's energy structure

Oct 02, 2009 - Xinhua

BEIJING - New energy and renewable energy took nine percent in China's energy structure in 2008, while coal took 69 percent and oil and natural gas 22 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

China's new energy and renewable energy have boomed in recent years including hydropower, nuclear power, wind power and solar power.

The country's installed capacity of hydropower topped 170 million kw in 2008, the biggest in the world. Hydropower percentage in overall energy structure soared from one percent in 1949 to 7.4 percent in 2008.

China reported 8.85 million kw of nuclear power installed capacity in use. The country now has three nuclear power stations: Qinshan in Zhejiang Provinces, Dayawan in Guangdong Province and Tianwan in Jiangsu Province.

Wind power installed capacity topped 12.21 million kw, ranking the fourth in the world.

China's solar power sector also made remarkable progresses. The sector produced more than 6,000 tonnes of polycrystalline silicion (a key material in producing solar power) and 2 million kw of solar photovoltaic cells in 2008.