An inside view of the upper cylinder of the steel containment of the Linglong One, the world's first commercial onshore small reactor project, in the Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant in South China's Hainan Province on July 5, 2022. Hoisting of the upper cylinder was completed ahead of schedule on July 6, and is anticipated to generate 1 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually, meeting the needs of 526,000 households. Photo: cnsphoto

China stepped up investment in energy projects in the first eight months this year, with the value exceeding 1.2 trillion yuan ($174.7 billion), an increase of 16.7 percent year-on-year, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Monday.

With the acceleration of investment in energy projects -- especially green energy -- the country has steadily advanced low-carbon industrial transition using financial tools in order to ensure energy security amid global uncertainties, experts noted. 

According to the NEA, the country installed about 94 million kilowatts (kW) of new non-fossil energy generation capacity in the first three quarters, accounting for 82 percent of the total newly added capacity. 

Installation of renewable energy units reached 90.36 million kW, accounting for 78.8 percent of the newly installed power generation capacity.

"The rising investment in energy projects this year is aimed at ensuring power supply to meet increasing demand for living and production during the upcoming winter, as the country faced power shortages in some regions last year," Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Monday.

Wang Dapeng, a senior official from the NEA, said that in the first three quarters of 2022, the power generation of the country's renewable green energy reached 1.94 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh). Wind power generation stood at 544.1 billion kWh, up 15.9 percent year-on-year, while photovoltaic power generation totaled 328.6 billion kWh, an increase of 32.2 percent.

China continued to release the production capacity of coal, natural gas and crude oil, and reduce the purchasing cost of natural gas, in order to stabilize the supplies and prices of these resources, Wang added.

According to the official, as of the end of September, China's installed renewable energy generation capacity reached 1.14 billion kWh, with 348 million kWh of wind power installed and 358 million kWh of photovoltaic power installed.

The new installation of green energy facilities showed the country's determination to achieve its dual carbon targets as well as its commitment to dealing with global climate change, Lin noted.

Wang stressed that the first batch of large wind power and photovoltaic bases have started construction while the second batch of projects are under construction, and the energy administration is reviewing the third batch.