What Should Iran Ask from China?
Part 2 (Renewable Energy)
An Iranian minister visits China in January of 2022 to sign a 25-year economic plan between Iran and China. As he returns, there is an unsolved question in his mind: “What should we ask from China?”
Well, this article tries to answer that question.
In the previous part I tried to emphasize contributions that China could have on Iranian ailing Automotive Industry. Here I expand how Iran could benefit from China’s Renewable Energy.
Renewable Energy
China is the world’s leading producer of electricity from renewable energy sources (1000GW of renewable capacity in 2021), generating electricity two times more than its next competitor, the United States. China is planning to add 75GW of solar capacity to its existing 282GW capacity by the end of 2022. While China produces quite a bit of renewable power, it’s worth noting that the average consumption per person in China is 671 watts compared to the average consumption worldwide at 305 watts per person.
China’s renewable energy sector is growing faster than its fossil fuel and nuclear energy capacity. It has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 and to overcome the peak of the crisis before 2030. This should be a wake up call for countries that export oil to China (i.e. Iran) as it seeks leveraging renewables as a source of energy security, not just to reduce carbon emissions.
Suggestion
There are various forms of renewable energy; hydropower, wind, solar, low-loss fossil fuels (ethanol) and geothermal. Iran is a country that, according to experts, with 300 sunny days in more than two-thirds of its borders and an average of 4.5–5.5 kWh/m2 solar capacity per day is one of the high-potential countries for solar energy. In Iran, two 7-megawatt power plants have been put into operation in the past few years. Fortunately, the Ministry of Energy has announced that it plans to produce 7,500 megawatts of electricity from solar energy by 2030. For context, Iranians consume 350 watts per person which is slightly higher than global average consumption.
Many factors have gone hand in hand to prevent the growth of solar energy in Iran. Technical complexity, lack of sufficient expertise, cheap fossil fuel, the devaluation of the national currency (IRR), and perhaps more importantly, the high cost of equipment compared to output have grossly impeded adoption of renewable sources.
Regardless of past issues, the only way forward for Iran is to prioritize embracing renewable energies in a massive way by leveraging its relationship with China to receive needed technology and training. Now, Iran hasn’t sat idle either as there are more than 80GW of renewable energy projects in the works. Though that might still not be enough to support its future electric-vehicle dream if they do not equip their EV industry with a capable grid. Having said that, China, as one of the leading countries in this field can help accelerate this demand, provided that Iranians take charge in manufacturing and innovation in order to alleviate unwanted threats to the country’s energy industry in the future.
