China pushes efforts for new power system

Increase of clean energy seen as key to achieving nation's carbon goals

The government's efforts to build a new type of power system with a gradual increase in the proportion of clean energy will further consolidate renewable energy's role in the country's energy mix while facilitating the country's carbon neutrality goals, said industry experts.

The National Energy Administration started soliciting public opinions on the development of the country's new type of power system on Friday. In the blue book released by the administration, it emphasized the importance of making new energy resources a reliable alternative to their traditional peers.

It also vows to further step up the integrated development of power generation, grid network and energy storage, in addition to the research on clean energy resource evaluation and power prediction technology.

An analyst said bringing upgrades in the power system will accelerate the country's pace of achieving its carbon goal while increasing renewable energy in its power mix.

Wang Yongli, deputy director of the energy internet research center at North China Electric Power University, said the traditional power system has been challenged by extreme weather, high fuel prices, large-scale access to new energy sources as well as the ever-climbing peak load in recent years.

All this gives the industry confidence to invest in a new type of power system in the country. The blue book released by the administration has made the transformation more clear in sectors and pace, he said.

According to a plan released in October by the State Council, China will vigorously improve the comprehensive regulation capability of the power system and accelerate the construction of flexible power regulation to build a strong smart grid and improve the grid security level. It will also actively develop the storage system for new energy to support the rational allocation of energy storage systems for distributed new energy sources.

CITIC Securities said in a note that the document released by the administration has once again illustrated the importance of hydrogen in the energy system, highlighting the importance of hydrogen in energy storage as well as hydrogen-electric coupling.

The efforts will further promote the scope and depth of hydrogen energy applications in the energy system in the country, it said.

According to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, building such a new power system will accelerate not only the upgrading of clean coal power generation, flexible transmission and new energy storage technologies, but also carbon capture, utilization and storage as well as electricity market trading and carbon emission monitoring technologies in the coming decades.