China’s winds of change

• 8 years ago (2016-06-21)
• David Flin

Asia 898 North America 1026 Renewables 780

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A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the USA has forecast that wind power could provide 26 per cent of China’s predicted electricity demand by 2030, up from 3 per cent in 2015.

The study said that China should not necessarily build more wind turbines in its windiest areas, but should instead build in areas where the turbines can be more easily integrated into the operations of its existing electricity grid.

Valerie Karplus, Director of the Tsinghua-MIT China Energy and Climate Project, said: “Wind that is built in distant, resource-rich areas benefits from more favourable physical properties, but suffers from existing constraints on the operation of the power system. Those constraints include greater transmission costs and the cost of curtailment, when available wind power is not used.”

While China is investing heavily in renewable energy sources, more investment in the sector will be required if the country is to meet its target of having 20 per cent of its energy consumption come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, as agreed at the Paris climate agreement of 2015. Previous studies have evaluated China’s wind energy potential based on the country’s natural environment; this is the first study to examine how wind energy could expand based on simulations of China’s power system operations. The study found that when operational constraints are considered, and by adopting more flexible generation schedules for coal-fired generation, China could achieve 26 per cent of electricity production by 2030.