China ‘s climate goal: renewing its electricity grid Business and Economic News

One of the most pressing challenges for China to meet its commitment to cover carbon emissions and commit to renewable energy this decade is to upgrade its electricity grid, according to some of the world’s largest officials, officials and analysts.

Researchers say the biggest emissions by 2030 would become carbon neutral by 2030 and 2060, according to a forecast made by Beijing last year.

Analysts say it is easy to build new solar plants and wind farms. Upgrading a system that transmits green energy to remote consumers can be five times more expensive and will depend on rapid technological advancement.

“When we talk about challenges, most people focus on the electricity grid,” said Chunping Xie, an expert on China’s climate change and energy policies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “It’s the first step in this long journey.”

Investments in China’s network and other related costs are expected to exceed 6 trillion yuan ($ 896 billion) over the next five years, former State Grid chairman Mao Weiming said in a speech in October.

‘It has reached the ceiling’

China, the world’s largest electricity generator, energy consumer and carbon emitter, has said that renewable energy will account for more than 50 percent of total electricity generation by 2025, now more than 42 percent.

It mainly involves moving away from the energy of the sun and wind and coal, of which China is the largest consumer in the world. Beijing expects to double its solar and wind capacity by more than 1,200 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, now 535GW.

From coal to renewable energy that generates a steady supply of basic charge energy, renewable energy that can change with weather conditions can lead to devastation with China’s electricity grid, authorities say.

A senior executive in charge of shipping to China’s State Grid – the world’s largest utility, which manages 75 percent of the country’s network – told Reuters that the system has already “reached its ceiling” on how many renewable sources it can manage and maintain stable operations. . The official has asked for anonymity as he is not allowed to speak to the media.

But China, which has the largest power system in the world, is putting pressure on a total installed capacity of 2,201GW, compared to 1,107GW in the United States.

By 2030, he said network operators will be forced to buy at least 40 percent of their power from non-fossil fuel sources, now about 28 percent.

Coastal changes

Alex Whitworth, head of research on Asia-Pacific energy and renewable energy at Wood Mackenzie, said the pace of network investment will be maintained until the end of the decade, during which time the cost of building additional renewable power plants will be five times higher.

The biggest costs are new power lines, the recovery of hundreds of coal-fired power plants as a replacement generator and increased storage capacity, analysts and officials said.

Seven new ultra-high-voltage power lines would be built over at least the next five years in the country’s westernmost regions, mostly solar-powered, wind-powered and hydroelectric, to better connect with China’s major cities, the State Network said. China already has 29 such lines.

This construction could cost approximately $ 34 billion.

“We have reached an agreement that China will conserve coal-fired power plants, but only for emergency uses,” said Shu Yinbiao, president of the Huaneng Group, China’s second-largest electricity company and former president of the State Grid.

But China is making efforts to promote costly changes in coal plants to offset renewable energy revolutions. It usually costs 150 million yuan ($ 23.27 million) to renovate a 300-megawatt coal plant.

Only about 10% of coal-fired power plants in China have changed, according to data provided by the State Grid and China Electricity Council.

“China will have to put in place a mechanism to ensure that the high rise in renewables makes coal energy unsuitable,” said Zhang Shuwei, director of the Draworld Energy Research Center. “Otherwise, China is not able to carry out its green agenda.”

Technical issues

Energy storage is another obstacle.

Bing Han, a senior research analyst at IHS Markit, expects China to need 120GW of energy storage by 2030 to support additional solar and wind energy needs. That’s four times the capacity of 32.3GW in 2019, according to China. Energy Storage Alliance.

For battery storage, Wood Mackenzie’s Whitworth said China by 2030 will install 47GWh, which is now four times more than its total storage capacity.

But it’s not just a matter of cost. Chinese officials have said they are concerned about slow technological developments.

“Energy storage technology has not realized revolutionary progress,” Li Gao, director of the Department of Climate Change at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said in a media appearance in April.

Michal Meidan, director of the China Energy Program at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said “geopolitical tensions” and “technological competition” between China and Western countries could also hinder cooperation needed to improve Beijing’s storage capacity.

“It doesn’t mean China can’t innovate, but it can take longer until China has its home innovation,” he said.

Other analysts questioned China’s commitment to renewable energy plans, the lack of clarity to phase out coal gradually, and the continued expansion of new power plants. China launched 38.4GW of new coal-fired power by 2020, three times more than that built elsewhere in the world.

But agreeing to confront the power system is an essential first step in a project that is critical to the future of the planet.

“The world cannot achieve its climate goals without China,” the XSE LSE said. “China’s role in the world in the immediate future makes its actions key to how the world moves forward.”