(This news is transferred from China Petroleum Encyclopedia)

"On the road to global energy transformation, whether it is the development of clean energy represented by 'wind and solar' and hydrogen energy, or energy transformation investment such as climate technology venture capital and green financial products, China is the absolute main force." The reporter learned at the first Beijing Summit of Bloomberg New Energy Finance a few days ago. Regarding the prospects of energy transformation, the experts at the meeting generally expressed similar views. Globally, energy transformation is entering a stage of overcoming difficulties, and China will continue to play a leading and exemplary role. China's energy transformation will achieve a transformation from "quantity" to "quality". While the development of "wind and solar" is steadily advancing, the scale effect of the hydrogen energy industry will also become increasingly prominent, becoming the leader of the global hydrogen energy economy.

China remains the largest investor in energy transformation

"Global energy transformation investment will reach US$2.083 trillion in 2024, which is the first time in history that the US$2 trillion threshold has been crossed." Jon Moore, CEO of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, gave the data.

From the perspective of industry, electrified transportation, renewable energy and power grids were the main drivers of global energy transformation investment growth last year, and investment in these three areas hit new highs last year. By region, the Asia-Pacific region was the biggest highlight last year, with energy transformation investment increasing by 21.3% year-on-year, returning to the high-speed growth channel again, and total investment exceeding US$1 trillion for the first time. Jon Moore emphasized that China played a positive leading role, with investment more than twice that of any other economy.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance data, China has remained the largest country in energy transformation investment, with a total investment of US$818 billion last year, an increase of 20% from 2023, and exceeding the total investment of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union last year. In contrast, the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom all performed poorly in energy transformation investment last year. Among them, investment growth in the United States stagnated, at about US$338 billion, while that in the European Union and the United Kingdom declined, at US$381 billion and US$65.3 billion, respectively.

It is worth noting that the total amount of funds raised by climate technology companies through private and public markets last year fell for three consecutive years, falling to US$50.7 billion, a 40% decrease from 2023. The most active companies in financing are clean power and transportation companies, with a total financing of US$31.8 billion.

Although energy transition investment set a record last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance analysis, the growth rate was lower than the average annual growth rate of 24%-29% in the previous three years. Considering that the "investment gap" in various regions and technology fields is different, energy transition urgently needs to expand diversified financing channels, and public funds alone cannot achieve a successful transformation.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance pointed out that if the 2050 net zero emission target is to be achieved, the global energy transition annual investment must reach US$5.6 trillion between 2025 and 2030, and the current investment level is only 37% of the level required to achieve the 2050 net zero emission target.

Global energy transformation will enter the critical stage

Regarding the progress of China's energy transformation, Bloomberg New Energy Finance shared its views with China Energy News that between 2025 and 2030, China's energy transformation will achieve a shift from "quantity" to "quality". On the one hand, the industry's focus will shift from installed capacity expansion to system efficiency improvement, solving "hard bones" such as consumption, market mechanisms, and cross-regional coordination. On the other hand, the policy focus will shift to "double control of carbon emissions". Affected by factors such as the accelerated popularization of electric vehicles and stronger constraints on high-carbon industries, the pressure to reduce emissions will further diverge.

It is worth mentioning that China and the United States are the two leaders in the field of energy transition bonds, and the scale of issuance increased last year. Globally, the total issuance of energy transition bonds in 2024 will reach US$1 trillion, an increase of 3% from 2023. Among them, corporate bonds account for the largest proportion, with a 5% increase driven by global interest rate cuts, project bonds have declined, and government energy transition bonds have remained the same year-on-year.

In the long run, China's energy transformation will benefit from the low-carbon trend and cost advantages, and renewable energy represented by "wind and solar" will continue to play an important role. Tang Sisi, head of China research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, told the reporter of China Energy News that my country has achieved the goal of 1,200 GW of "wind and solar" power generation capacity by 2030 six years ahead of schedule, and "wind and solar" have promoted the rapid growth of renewable energy power generation. On the one hand, the growth rate of installed capacity has far exceeded expectations, especially the big strides between 2023 and 2024; on the other hand, the penetration rate of electric vehicles has increased rapidly. In 2024, electric vehicles accounted for half of new car sales, and it is expected that the proportion will rise to 80% by 2030 and close to 100% by 2050.

"Energy transformation will enter a critical stage, and it is inevitable that the difficulty of transformation will increase, because 'the ripe fruits have almost been picked.'" Albert Cheung, deputy CEO of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said, "In the field of photovoltaics, the future growth engine will shift to emerging markets. India, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Romania and other countries increased their photovoltaic installed capacity by more than 50% last year. However, most emerging markets still lack the institutional environment required for large-scale development."

China's hydrogen energy industry plays a leading role

It is worth noting that in the clean energy economy, the investment gap between mature and emerging fields is still quite significant. Technologies that have been proven, commercially scalable and have mature business models, such as renewable energy, energy storage, electric vehicles and power grids, accounted for the vast majority of last year's investment. Despite the interference of policy decisions, rising interest rates and slowing consumer purchasing power expectations, these mature fields still attracted $1.93 trillion in investment, an overall year-on-year increase of 14.7%.

In contrast, investment in emerging technologies such as electrified heating, hydrogen energy, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and clean industry was only US$155 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 23%. Factors hindering investment in these areas include affordability, technological maturity, and commercial scalability. To promote the large-scale development of these areas, both the public and private sectors need to come up with more practical plans, otherwise it will be difficult for these areas to make a positive contribution to emission reduction by 2030.

Albert Cheung said: "In the past few years, despite the impact of policy uncertainty and high interest rates, energy transformation has achieved considerable growth. However, there is still a lot to do globally to achieve the net zero emission target, especially in emerging areas such as industrial decarbonization, hydrogen energy and CCS technology. Establishing real cooperation between the public and private sectors is the only way to unleash the potential of these technologies."

New issues need to be solved in the new stage. Albert Cheung pointed out that in mature markets, unlocking energy storage and flexibility to increase penetration; in markets with weak systems, cultivate renewable energy, improve charging networks, and support mass market and commercial electrification. At the same time, in "difficult to decarbonize" fields such as aviation, shipping, and heavy industry, accelerate the demand for clean energy. Only by breaking through these bottlenecks can a new round of growth cycle be launched.

In the field of hydrogen energy, China will play a leading and exemplary role. Gao Xitong, a hydrogen energy research expert at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, emphasized that my country's hydrogen energy industry has significant cost advantages and global competitiveness, especially in the fields of green hydrogen, green ammonia and green methanol, which will lead the growth of the global hydrogen energy economy. Globally, the development of the hydrogen energy industry still faces challenges such as policy uncertainty, insufficient infrastructure, and regional mismatch between supply and demand, which requires policy support, technological innovation and market drive.

"Last year, global investment in the hydrogen energy industry slowed down, but China's hydrogen energy development was relatively stable. We expect that about 20% of China's planned hydrogen energy capacity will enter the bidding or construction stage this year." Gao Xitong told reporters, "At present, China's electrolyzer hydrogen production costs and green ammonia production costs are the lowest in the world. It is expected that by around 2050, green hydrogen is expected to achieve parity with gray hydrogen. China will be one of the few markets with this potential."