- Data released by the Chinese National Energy Administration (NEA) at the end of July confirms they have reached their target set six years ago for wind and solar capacity early.
- Total solar power installed capacity is at 740 GW while that of wind power stands at 470 GW
- The rapid growth of photovoltaic and wind power installations have transformed China’s electricity structure with total installed capacity now accounting for 39% of all generation capacity.
However, due to the nature of new energy sources, their utilization rate is not high, and during peak periods of electricity demand new energy often cannot generate enough electricity. Moreover, the domestic new energy facilities are mainly located in the northwest, northeast, and southwest regions, far from the load centers in eastern areas. The increased fluctuation and uncertainty brought about by expanding the proportion of new energy installations has led to mismatches in supply and demand both temporally and spatially, making it impossible to ensure electricity supply across all regions at every moment.
Authorities are attempting to guide the industry through various means to address these challenges. In May, the NEA issued a notice on a batch of new energy supporting grid projects aimed at enhancing system regulation capabilities, improving the grid-connection performance of new energy sources, strengthening grid resource allocation capabilities, and leveraging the role of the power market mechanism.
In July, departments including the NEA and National Development and Reform Commission jointly released an action plan for building a new type of power system from 2024 to 2027, planning nine special actions over the next three years including building a stable power system guarantee and the construction of an intelligent dispatch system.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal