IRENA and the State Grid Corporation of China have agreed to increase significantly their level of co-operation with a view to advancing the energy transition under global and regional initiatives.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), the world’s largest utility, have agreed to increase significantly their level of co-operation with a view to advancing the energy transition under global and regional initiatives, including the Paris Agreement and the Belt and Road initiative.
The framework of the agreement includes opportunities for collaboration on activities related to integrating high shares of wind and solar, grid integration, interconnection and smart grids. The framework also includes initiating technical co-operation in the context of IRENA’s Clean Energy Corridor initiatives and capacity building activities around integrating renewable power in energy systems in developing countries.
The agreement was formalised on the sidelines of the Eighth Clean Energy Ministerial in Beijing, China between IRENA director-general Adnan Z. Amin and SGCC chairman Shu Yinbiao.  
“As the world’s largest renewable energy market, China is at the forefront of renewable energy and it is State Grid that provides the electricity backbone for over 1 billion people,” said Adnan Z. Amin. “Providing more electricity – and more renewable electricity – than any other utility in the world, State Grid’s extensive experience with grid infrastructure and integrating renewable energy into power systems will help improve understanding of how we can bring larger shares of renewable power online.”
China is the world’s largest renewable energy market with over 27%, 545 GW, of the world’s installed renewable energy capacity and over 40% of the world’s renewable energy workforce.