The development of renewable energy in our country is mainly from the perspective of ensuring energy security and promoting sustainable economic and social development. With the development of the economy and society, renewable energy has been endowed with new missions such as energy conservation and emission reduction, greenhouse gas emission control, and air pollution prevention and control. Especially in the 2017 Government Work Report, the inclusion of "blue sky defense operations" further indicates that during and after the 13th Five Year Plan period, the development of renewable energy will be elevated to a higher level, and its proportion in China's energy system will further increase. Below, the author will share their understanding and views on the ideas and goals of the 13th Five Year Plan for the development of hydropower and new energy, as well as the key tasks, guarantee policies, and measures for the development of renewable energy.
Energy development situation during the 13th Five Year Plan period
Global climate change and the development of new energy. From the energy structure of various countries around the world in 2015, coal accounted for less than 30% of the global energy consumption structure, mainly consisting of oil and natural gas. But including China, India, and South Africa, the proportion of coal consumption in primary energy consumption is basically 60% or more. The high proportion of coal in the energy structure will lead to the increase of greenhouse gas emissions, the aggravation of air pollution and other consequences.
The development situation of China's energy economy. The 13th Five Year Plan for Energy Development clearly states that the total energy consumption in 2020 should be controlled within 5 billion tons of standard coal, and the total coal consumption should be controlled within 4.1 billion tons. As China's economic development enters a new normal, the average annual growth rate of total energy consumption during the 13th Five Year Plan period has decreased by 1.1 percentage points compared to the 12th Five Year Plan period, to about 2.5%. On the basis of the current 5.9 trillion kilowatt hours, the total electricity consumption in society is expected to be around 6.8 to 7.2 trillion kilowatt hours by 2020, which is about 0.8 trillion kilowatt hours lower than the initial expected results. During the 13th Five Year Plan period, the entire energy structure will also be adjusted accordingly. Coal remains the basic energy source in China, with non fossil fuels and natural gas as the main incremental sources.
Current Status and Main Issues of Renewable Energy Development
The current development of renewable energy is an important direction for global energy development. Both developed and developing countries regard renewable energy such as hydropower, wind energy, and solar energy as important means to address the dual challenges of energy security and climate change. The Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of renewable energy and has set ambitious goals of achieving 15% of the total energy consumption from non fossil fuels by 2020 and 20% by 2030. Major countries around the world have also put forward a vision for a high proportion of renewable energy development by 2050.
The foundation for the development of renewable energy
Firstly, China has abundant resources of renewable energy. The development volume of hydropower technology is 660 million kilowatts, and by the end of the 12th Five Year Plan, only 30% has been developed; The development volume of wind power technology is 10.2 billion kilowatts, and the current developed volume is 150 million kilowatts; As of the end of 2016, China's solar power generation reached 66.2 billion kilowatt hours, accounting for only 0.16% of its reserves. Of course, the development of renewable energy cannot be directly compared with coal and oil, but data shows that China has abundant renewable energy resources, but the current level of development is relatively low and has broad development prospects.
The second is the gradual expansion of the scale of renewable energy development and construction. By the end of 2016, the installed capacity of hydropower in China had reached 330 million kilowatts, including 305.42 million kilowatts of conventional hydropower stations and 26.69 million kilowatts of pumped storage energy, ranking first in the world. For seven consecutive years, wind power grid connected capacity has led the world. By the end of 2016, the country's wind power grid connected installed capacity was 149 million kilowatts, with an annual power generation of 241 billion kilowatt hours, accounting for 4 percentage points of the total social electricity consumption. Since 2013, China's solar energy industry has become the world's largest new photovoltaic application market, ranking first in the world for two consecutive years in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, the national photovoltaic grid connected installed capacity increased from 43 million kilowatts in 2015 to 78.18 million kilowatts, with a power generation of over 60 billion kilowatt hours and a solar thermal utilization area of over 400 million square meters. In addition, the utilization scale of biomass energy has reached 35 million tons of standard coal, and the development and construction scale has already taken the lead in the world.
Thirdly, renewable energy technologies are becoming increasingly mature. In terms of hydropower, the world's tallest concrete hyperbolic arch dam of 300 meters and above has been built; In the field of wind power, 1.5-5 MW wind turbines have been mass-produced; In the photovoltaic field, relying on the national photovoltaic leading demonstration base, promote the improvement of progressiveness indicators of photovoltaic products. In addition, effective demonstrations have been conducted in energy storage technology, multi energy complementary technology, and microgrids to develop new energy. From these aspects, China's manufacturing capabilities in hydropower, wind power, and photovoltaic industries have ranked first in the world and are moving from being a "manufacturing powerhouse" to a "manufacturing powerhouse".
The fourth is the gradual improvement of the renewable energy industry system. The country has introduced the Renewable Energy Law and a series of supporting policies, established standardization committees in the fields of hydropower, wind power, and photovoltaics, and promoted the construction of standard systems. The certification, construction, and survey capabilities continue to strengthen, supporting the large-scale development of industries such as hydropower and new energy.
The fifth is the continuous improvement of the economic efficiency of renewable energy. During the 12th Five Year Plan period, new energy represented by photovoltaics was the type of energy with the fastest cost reduction and significant economic improvement. The unit kilowatt cost of photovoltaic technology was around 20000 yuan in 2010, decreased to around 11000 yuan in 2012, and has since dropped to around 7000 yuan. The grid electricity price has decreased from the initial 1 yuan to the current 0.6-0.8 yuan/kilowatt hour, significantly improving the economy.
