China and the UK join forces on renewable energy

Chinese and British partners have come together to invest £4 million in renewable energy projects.

Chinese and British partners have come together to invest £4 million in renewable energy projects. [File Photo: cableabc.com]

That's according to renewable energy specialist publication reNews, who report that five offshore projects will initially benefit from the investment.

The funding has come as part of the Joint UK-China Offshore Renewable Energy programme, and the five projects will be run on a three year basis.

A number of different technologies will be trialled, including wind and tidal platforms.

The news comes in the same week that China Resources Power Holdings Co. emerged as a potential buyer of a stake in the UK's offshore wind farms.

Such a sale might represent a sturdy investment.

The UK struggles to meet its own needs for power supply, with as much as sixty percent of its energy being imported. That means that prices of renewable energy, produced locally, could be set to rise in line with increasing demand.

A third of the world's investment in renewable energy during 2016 came from China.

Adnan Amin, director-general of IRENA, which has 149 member states and works with governments to promote the adoption of sustainable energy sources, said that of $330 billion invested globally last year, $103 billion had come from China.