TirelesseffortsovermorethanadecadehaveresultedinstunningachievementsinChina鈥檚newenergydevelopment.Thecountryhasrealizedastructuraltransformationasitshiftsfromtraditionalfossilfuelssuchascoaltoapackageofcleansolutionsincludingnuclearpower,hydropower,windpower,solarenergyandbiomass.MajorGrowthinTotalVolume
AccordingtostatisticsfromChinaNationalRenewableEnergyCenterandChinaElectricityCouncil,bytheendofMay2018,theinstalledcapacityofhydroelectricplantsabovethedesignatedsizereachednearly300millionkilowatts,installedcapacityofwindpower170millionkilowatts,installedcapacityofphotovoltaicpowergeneration143millionkilowattsandinstalledcapacityofbiomasspowergeneration16millionkilowatts.Intotal,China鈥檚installedcapacityofrenewableenergygenerationhashitnearly630millionkilowatts,accountingfornearly37percentofthecountry鈥檚totalinstalledcapacityofpowerplantsabovethedesignatedsize.
Inthefirstfivemonthsof2018,theamountofelectricitygeneratedwithrenewableenergyinChinaexceeded625billionkilowatthours,accountingfornearly24percentofthecountry鈥檚totalfrompowerplantsabovethedesignatedsize.Non-fossilenergypowergenerationhastopped731billionkilowatthours,accountingformorethan27percentofthecountry鈥檚totalfrompowerplantsabovethedesignatedsize.Newenergyandrenewableenergyhavealreadybecomethemainforceforthecountry鈥檚newlyaddedelectricitygenerationcapacity,accountingformorethan65percentofthenewlyinstalledcapacityin2017.Thesubstitutionroleofrenewableenergybecomesincreasinglyprominent.
GrowingIndustrialStrength
Chinahasalreadyformedacompletenewenergyindustrychaincoveringresearch,manufacturing,design,constructionandoperation.Theindustryhasenteredaphaseofrapid,comprehensiveandlarge-scaledevelopment.Localizationhaswitnessedasignificantincrease.China鈥檚productionscalesofwindturbineequipment,polycrystallinesilicon,siliconchipsandphotovoltaiccellsranktopintheworld.NewenergyalreadyaccountsforamajorproportionofChina鈥檚newlyinstalledelectricitygenerationcapacity.Andcontinuouslyimprovingequipment,technologyandmanagementofrenewableenergyhaveledtosteadycostdeclinesforwindandphotovoltaicpowergeneration.
Thetop10enterpriseswiththebiggestinstalledcapacitiesofwindpowerinthecountryproduceatotalinstalledcapacityofmorethan100millionkilowatts.Theirmanufacturingcapabilitiesforsomepartssuchasblades,gearboxesandgeneratorsareonparwithadvancedinternationalstandards.Theseenterprisesarecapableofprovidingreliablesupportingequipmentformainstreamwindturbinemodels.Andthewindpowerserviceindustryisbecomingincreasinglyimportant.
In2017,theproductioncapacityofChina鈥檚polycrystallinesilicondevelopmententerprisestotaled210,000tons,accountingforhalfoftheworld鈥檚total.Witheverimprovingproductiontechnologies,thecomprehensivecostofpolycrystallinesilicondevelopmenthasdroppedtolessthan90,000yuanpertonandindustrialefficiencyhasincreasedtonearly19percent.Totalproductioncapacityofsiliconchipshaswitnessedasharprisetonearly82gigawatts,anincreaseof35percentonayear-on-yearbasisandaccountingfornearly87percentoftheworld鈥檚total.Pricesforpartsandcomponentshavedroppedtoaround2.5yuanperwattthisyear.AndtheannualyieldofcomponentsfromChinaismorethan70percentoftheworld鈥檚total.
ImprovingPolicySystem
Topromotethedevelopmentandutilizationofrenewableenergyresources,increaseenergysupply,improveenergystructure,safeguardenergysecurity,protecttheenvironmentandrealizesustainableeconomicandsocialdevelopment,theRenewableEnergyLawofthePeople鈥檚RepublicofChinawasimplementedin2006andrevisedin2009.Thelawstipulatedbasicrulesandentityresponsibilitysuchasguaranteedfullpurchaserelatedtorenewableenergydevelopment.
Twogovernmentaldocuments,The13thFive-yearPlan(2016-2020)forRenewableEnergyDevelopmentandReformStrategiesonEnergyProductionandConsumption(2016-2030),specifiedthe2020and2030goalsforrenewableenergydevelopment.By2020,theproportionofnon-fossilenergyandnaturalgasinprimaryenergyconsumptionshouldreach15percentand10percent,respectively.By2030,thefigureshouldhit20percentand15percent,respectively.
AphotovoltaicpowerstationinNanpingCity,FujianProvince.In2017,China鈥檚newlyinstalledcapacityofphotovoltaicpoweraccountedforhalfoftheworld鈥檚total.VCGSincetheimplementationofthe13thFive-yearPlan,Chinahasestablishedaseriesofmechanismsandsystemssuchasarenewableenergyobjective-orientedguidancesystemandguaranteedfullpurchaseofrenewableenergytoensuretherealizationofthenon-fossilenergy鈥檚proportiontargetsandexpandtheutilizationofrenewableenergy.Bycontrollingthepaceofprojects,constructionandgridconnection,thegovernmenthasplayedamoreactiveroleinguidingenterprisesinrationalinvestmentandefficientusageofrenewableenergy.
InFebruary2016,China鈥檚NationalEnergyAdministrationissuedguidelinesonrenewableenergydevelopmentandutilization.Itrequiredthecountry鈥檚provincial-leveladministrativeunitstosetconsumptionproportiontargetsforrenewableenergybasedontheirvariousrenewableenergydevelopmentconditionsandenergyconsumptionsituations.
Intermsofsupervisionandmonitoring,theNationalEnergyAdministrationissuedits2015and2016supervisionandassessmentreportsonthecountry鈥檚renewableenergypowerdevelopment.Thereportsevaluatedabsorptionandconsumptionofnon-hydroelectricityandrenewableenergyelectricityofdifferentprovincial-leveladministrativeunits.Besides,italsocoveredthepolicyimplementationsituationsuchasguaranteedpurchaseofwindpowerandphotovoltaicpower.
InMarch2016,China鈥橬ationalDevelopmentandReformCommissionandNationalEnergyAdministrationpromulgatedadocumentspecifyingmeasuresforguaranteedfullpurchaseofrenewableenergy.Basedonthedocument,areasthathavegivenupdevelopingwindandphotovoltaicpowermustmeetminimumannualpurchaseamountsforwindandphotovoltaicpower.Additionally,asupervisionandearlywarningmechanismforwindpowerhasbeenestablished.InaccordancewithNotificationontheResultsof2017WindPowerInvestmentSupervisionandPrecaution,Chinadesignatedredalertareasforwindpowerdevelopmentandconstruction.Nonewwindpowerprojectsareallowedtobeestablishedinsuchareas.Thecountryvowedtotakemeasurestoaddressproblemsrelatedtoabandonmentofwindpower.
MajorInnovation
Majorrenewableenergyprojectssuchasgrid-connectionofwindpowerandphotovoltaicpowerwithstate-setprices,baseconstructionofleadingphotovoltaictechnologiesandsolarthermalenergydemonstrationprojectshavebeenpromotingtechnicalinnovationandindustrialupgrade.Theseprojectshavealsoplayedavitalroleindrivingindustrialscaleandstructuretohigherlevels.
In2017,China鈥檚NationalEnergyAdministrationissuedadraftnotificationontherequirementsfortheconstructionofadvancedphotovoltaicpowergenerationtechnologyapplicationbases.Thedraftdesignatedtheconstructionscaleofeachbaseat500megawatts.Inthreeyears,theconstructionofallthesebaseswillbecomplete,relatedadvancedtechnologieswillreachindustrializationandthetechnicalindicatorsfor2017industrialleadersshouldrise.
InSeptember2017,inaccordancewithpilotworkrequirementsongrid-connectionofwindpowerwithstate-setpricesissuedbyChina鈥檚NationalEnergyAdministration,theadministrationannouncedpilotprojectsinareasincludingHebei,Heilongjiang,NingxiaandXinjiangwithatotalscaleof707,000kilowatts.Pricesofwindpowerintheseprojectsarerequiredtosetthesameaspricesoflocalon-gridcoalpower.Andeffortsmustbemadetoabsorbandconsumewindpowerinlocalpowergrids.
GlobalModelforEnergyTransformation
Althoughthelarge-scaledevelopmentofChina鈥檚newenergysectorstartedlatecomparedtotheUnitedStatesandsomeEuropeancountries,itssecond-moveradvantagesareobviousandhavereapedmajorbenefits.Today,majorcountries,mainstreammediaandnumerousinternationalorganizationsallhighlyrecognizeChina鈥檚achievementsinnewenergydevelopmentaswellasthecontributionsofChina鈥檚newenergysectorinpromotingsustainabledevelopmentineconomics,theenvironmentandpeople鈥檚wellbeing.ThedevelopmentandcontributionsofChina鈥檚newenergysectorareconsideredimportantandoutstandingachievementsmadebythecountryduringtheconstructionofamoderneconomicsystemwithChinesecharacteristics.
Since2011,bothChina鈥檚newlyinstalledcapacityandcumulativeinstalledcapacityofwindpowerhaverankedtopintheworld.In2013,China鈥檚newlyinstalledcapacityofphotovoltaicpowersurpassedGermanyandItalyandhassincetoppedtheworld.In2015,thecountry鈥檚cumulativeinstalledcapacityofphotovoltaicpowerbeatGermanyandbecamenumberoneworldwide.In2017,China鈥檚newlyinstalledcapacityofphotovoltaicpoweraccountedforhalfoftheworld鈥檚total.Statisticsshowthatin2017,China鈥檚utilizationofnon-fossilenergyaccountedfornearly14percentinitsprimaryenergyconsumption.Itsutilizationofnewenergyrankstopintheworldandaccountsfor20percentoftheworld鈥檚totalutilizationofnewenergy.Chinaalreadyboaststhelargestutilizationofrenewableenergygloballyandhassetamodelforglobalenergytransformationaswellasnewenergydevelopmentandutilization.
Bynow,China鈥檚newenergydevelopmenthasalreadybecomethecallingcardshowcasingthecountry鈥檚softpower.Itisalsoaprimeembodimentofthecountry鈥檚developmentconceptsincludingecologicalcivilization,greenandlow-carbondevelopment,beautifulChinaandsustainabledevelopment.Atthesametime,thedevelopmentofthenewenergyindustryisnotsolelyanidealisticmission.Itservesasakeycomponentoftheadvancedequipmentmanufacturingindustry,animportantengineforeconomicdevelopment,aneffectivemeansforeconomicrestructuringandanefficientindustrialcarrierwhichperfectlycombinesthecountry鈥檚newdevelopmentconceptswithitsnewrealeconomyandattractsparticipationfrommarketentitieswithvariousformsofownership.
PromotinganEcologicalCivilization
Againstthebackdropofglobalclimatechange,internationalenergyrestructuringandChina鈥檚reformofenergyproductionandconsumption,newenergydevelopmentislookingattremendousopportunities.
First,climatechangehasdrivenglobalenergyrestructuring.Facingincreasinglypressingchallengesrelatedtoenergysecurity,climatechangeandecology,theworld鈥檚currentenergystructureisundergoingprofoundadjustments.Anewroundofenergyreformhasstarted.Propelledbynewenergytechnology,informationtechnologyandpressurefromglobalcarbonemissions,greenandlow-carbonenergydevelopmenthasbecomeacentralpieceofthereform.
Second,ChinahasenteredaneweraofsocialismwithChinesecharacteristicsthatrequiresthecountrytostrictlypursuegreendevelopmentintheenergysector.Thereportdeliveredatthe19thNationalCongressoftheCommunistPartyofChinain2017madeenergyrequirementscrystalclear.Thereportexpoundedontheimportanceofenergydevelopmentto鈥渟peedupreformofthesystemfordevelopinganecologicalcivilizationandbuildingabeautifulChina,鈥漺hichtestifiedtotheimportanceChinaattachestoenergyrestructuringandgreendevelopmentinthenewera.Thecountry鈥檚futureenergydevelopmentwillfollowthegeneralprincipleofbuildingaclean,low-carbon,safe,andefficientenergysystemwhilemaintainingacommitmenttoraiseawarenessoftheneedtorespect,protectandaccommodatenatureandsticktotheroadtogreendevelopment.
Third,Chinahasbeguntoimplementanenergyrevolutionstrategy.Inaccordancewiththecountry鈥檚newdevelopmentconcepts,ablueprintforanenergyrevolutionhasbeendesigned.Presently,thepaceforenergyrestructuringhasaccelerated,andtheideaofenergyreformhastakenrootinthepeople鈥檚minds.EnergydevelopmentwithChinesecharacteristicshaswitnessednewprogress.Theenergyrevolutionstrategycallsforacceleratedconstructionofagreenenergysupplysystemreliantondiversifiedsourcestopromotesustainableandhealthydevelopmentofrenewableenergy.
ThisauthorisvicedirectoroftheRenewableEnergyDevelopmentCenterofEnergyResearchInstituteundertheChineseAcademyofMacroeconomicResearch.
May25,2017:AnhuiTonglingWanjiangBiomassEnergyCorporationtransformsstrawintosolidbiomassfuel.Chinaalreadyboaststhelargestutilizationofrenewableenergyglobally.VCG