(Yicai) Oct. 17 -- China has helped countries along the Belt and Road Initiative with decarbonization and green energy since the BRI was launched in 2013, according to a recent research report.

Chinese companies and financial institutions have launched 268 energy projects in 67 countries with a total investment of USD83 billion and installed capacity of 111 gigawatts over the past decade, according to a report released by Shanxi PACS Green Culture Center yesterday. Of them, 178 were new energy projects, accounting for 30 percent of the total installed capacity.

The 10 countries that received the most investment in clean energy from China in the past 10 years are Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Laos, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Argentina, South Africa, Zambia, Cambodia, and Uganda, with a total installed capacity of 24 GW.

The average emissions per kilowatt hour in the above 10 countries dropped to 284 grams of carbon dioxide per kWh in 2021 from a peak of 319 gCO2/KWh in 2017, the report noted.

Most countries along the BRI are developing countries, so their priority is to create electric power to strengthen their economy, said Wang Xiaojun, head of PACS. Cost-effective investment in energy from China in the past decade met the demand of these countries, Wang pointed out.

These countries have a weak ability to cope with the climate crisis, so it will be difficult for them to get rid of the climate crisis, high emissions, and huge debts if they heavily depend on fossil fuels, Wang added, noting that a transition to clean energy is must for them.

China committed at the United Nations General Assembly in 2021 to no longer build new coal power projects overseas. Since then, countries along the BRI have been importing clean energy equipment from China at a faster speed, achieving an annual growth rate of over 35 percent, the report said.

Under the general trend of energy transition, BRI nations have canceled or put aside many fossil fuel power generation projects. If all of their projects are replaced with clean energy, they will develop an over 200 GW clean energy market, as well as upstream and downstream industries of ancillary facilities, PACS predicted.

Editor: Futura Costaglione