Unlocking Capital for Distributed Solar and Hydrogen

To achieve China’s “dual carbon goals” which are to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060, the development and adoption of new energy resources, such as renewable energy and hydrogen, will be essential. In terms of renewable energy, China has committed to achieve 1.2TW of solar and wind power capacity by 2030, which is more than double the 534GW capacity in 2020. When it comes to hydrogen, it is estimated that the demand for hydrogen in China could grow significantly over the next decades, with the potential for hydrogen to contribute to more than 10 percent of the country’s energy consumption by 2050.

As part of China’s national development strategy, the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area), which consists of the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, and the nine municipalities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province, is expected to play a leading role in driving the country’s low carbon transition. While there has been progress in the development of the distributed solar energy and hydrogen markets in the Greater Bay Area, those markets need to further grow in order to support China’s decarbonization efforts.

With the support of HSBC, the World Resources Institute (WRI) releases a working paper that looks into the development of the distributed solar energy and hydrogen markets in the Greater Bay Area. The working paper presents an overview of the current status of the distributed solar energy and hydrogen markets in the Greater Bay Area. It also highlights the financing and investment challenges that are currently hindering those markets and provides a set of recommendations that could address these challenges and help unlock their growth potential.