China-Led Study Proposes Global Energy Network

Solar panels and wind turbines at the Huaneng Binzhou new energy power generation project in Binzhou, in China’s eastern Shandong province on June 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP) / CHINA OUT

A globally connected network of solar and wind energy could provide three times the global energy demand by 2050 at a lower cost than independent national power systems. This is the finding of a study led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with researchers from the United States and Denmark.

The study focused on how areas with high solar and wind capacity (such as deserts) can be linked to regions with high energy demand. It found that building links between existing regional networks into a global system would balance out the cyclical nature of solar and wind energy while making the network more secure.

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by Cobus van Staden

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