MAIN DRIVERS FOR RENEWABLES
The expansion of the renewable energy industry is of strategic
national importance in the context of upgrading its existing
industrial infrastructure and is recognised as an important sector
for the creation of future value-added jobs. Meeting the demand
of surging export markets for renewable energy technologies—
mainly solar PV—was a major driver for the Chinese government.
Diversification of the energy supply and security of supply both
play an important role. Air pollution, in particular across Eastern
China, has recently emerged as an important driver for new
renewable energy expansion plans in that region. An equally
important driver is the need to foster decentralised/distributed
power generation capacities to avoid the enormous financial
expenditures associated with relying entirely on long-distance
transmission lines, which otherwise would have to transmit
power generated in West China to East China.