State Grid Releases Report on New Energy Development (2019)

National Development and Reform Commission, National Energy Administration

Focus on promoting the high-quality development of clean energy and effectively solving the consumption problem as key tasks, formulate the "Implementation Plan for Solving the Problems of Abandoned Water, Wind, and Solar Energy" and the "Clean Energy Consumption Action Plan (2018-2020)", and actively take measures to increase efforts to promote clean energy consumption. The National Energy Administration continues to release monitoring and early warning of wind power investment and evaluation results of the photovoltaic power generation market environment, with the scale and layout of new energy construction continuously optimized.

Local government

Vigorously promote the two substitutions, accelerate the implementation of clean heating, and deeply explore the consumption space of self-built power plants.

Power generation enterprises

Increase the flexibility transformation of thermal power, with the newly added flexibility transformation scale of thermal power exceeding 30 million kilowatts.

Grid enterprises accelerate grid construction, optimize operational arrangements, actively organize market-oriented transactions of clean energy, and fully utilize the role of the grid platform. With the joint efforts of all parties, the contradiction of clean energy consumption in the operating area of the State Grid continues to ease, with both power generation and proportion increasing, and both abandoned electricity volume and abandonment rate decreasing. Clean energy power generation reached 1.2 trillion kilowatt-hours, an increase of 11% year-on-year; accounting for 22.8% of total power generation, an increase of 0.5 percentage points year-on-year. The abandoned electricity volume of new energy was 26.8 billion kilowatt-hours, a decrease of 35% year-on-year, with an abandonment rate of 5.8%, a decrease of 5.2 percentage points year-on-year. The abandoned hydropower volume for peak regulation in the southwest region was 13.8 billion kilowatt-hours, a decrease of 14% year-on-year, with an abandonment rate of 3.8%, a decrease of 0.8 percentage points year-on-year. Following 7 consecutive days of full clean energy supply in 2017, from June 20 to 28, 2018, Qinghai provided clean energy supply for 9 consecutive days, providing a Chinese example of clean development to the world.

In 2018, the State Grid did a lot...

In 2018, State Grid Corporation of China earnestly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, always taking service for clean energy development as an important political, economic, and social responsibility. Based on the grid's main responsibilities, it formulated and implemented 22 measures to promote new energy consumption, achieving significant results.

In terms of grid construction

Completed 5,430 kilometers of new energy grid connection and transmission lines, meeting the grid connection and intra-provincial transmission needs of 506 new energy power generation projects; constructed the world's highest voltage level and longest transmission distance ±1100 kV ultra-high voltage direct current transmission project from Zhuandong to Wannán, and commenced construction of the first line primarily for transmitting clean energy, the ±800 kV ultra-high voltage transmission project from Qinghai to Henan; put into operation phase-shifting transformers at the receiving and sending ends, improved the rated voltage capacity of converter stations and wind farm equipment, and increased the direct current delivery capacity of Hami-Zhengzhou, Jiuquan-Hunan, and Zhalute-Qingzhou to 5.4 million, 4.5 million, and 6.2 million kilowatts respectively; established 15 key transmission corridors to enhance new energy consumption capacity, increasing new energy delivery capacity by 3.7 million kilowatts; initiated construction of 5 pumped storage power stations in Hami, Xinjiang, further enhancing the grid's large-scale resource optimization capabilities.

In terms of dispatching operations

Enhance the grid's balancing and regulation capabilities, tap into the peak regulation potential of thermal power, fully utilize pumped storage power stations, explore demand response, and cooperate with government authorities to carry out pilot projects for peak regulation auxiliary service markets. Strengthen unified dispatching across the entire network, break the provincial standby model, improve the regional and inter-regional rotating standby sharing mechanism, strengthen inter-provincial grid peak regulation mutual assistance, and create a coordinated mechanism for grid safety and clean energy consumption, making every effort to consume clean energy. Improve the dispatch support system, enhance the grid's real-time balancing monitoring capabilities, improve the accuracy of new energy power forecasting, and explore practical applications of new energy power forecasting.

In terms of market transactions

Improve the inter-provincial trading system, continuously expand the scale of clean energy market transactions, innovate clean energy trading varieties, actively organize and carry out power generation rights trading, direct trading, bundled delivery trading, etc. The annual inter-provincial trading volume of clean energy reached 437.3 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%; among them, the inter-provincial trading volume of new energy was 71.8 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 46%. Continuously expand the scale of cross-regional surplus new energy spot trading, completing a trading volume of 7 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 21%. Vigorously implement electricity substitution, completing a substitution volume of 135.3 billion kilowatt-hours.

In terms of distributed photovoltaics

Further optimize the grid connection services for distributed photovoltaic power generation, with a cumulative grid connection capacity of 47.01 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 67%; deeply promote the State Grid's sunshine poverty alleviation action; strengthen grid connection and operational services for distributed photovoltaics in high penetration areas, and promote the high-quality development of distributed photovoltaics.

In terms of technological innovation

Continuously strengthen technological innovation in clean energy, increase investment in scientific research and development, establish demonstration projects such as the Jiangsu Tongli Comprehensive Energy Service Center, Zhangbei Flexible Substation and AC/DC Distribution Network, and Zhenjiang Grid-side Energy Storage Power Station, further promote the improvement of the standard system, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in the field of clean energy.

In the first quarter of this year, the abandonment rate of electricity in the operating area of the State Grid was 3.9%.

The company will resolutely implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, implement various key tasks of the "Clean Energy Consumption Action Plan (2018-2020)", and according to the requirements for building a world-class energy internet enterprise of "three types and two networks", focus on guiding the orderly development of clean energy, accelerating grid construction, strengthening unified dispatching, expanding transaction scale, enhancing technological and mechanism innovation, and strengthening organizational leadership, implementing 30 key tasks in six major areas.

Clean energy consumption still requires multi-party efforts in the future.

The 2019 government work report proposed to vigorously develop renewable energy and accelerate the resolution of the consumption problems of wind, solar, and hydropower. Clean energy consumption is a systematic project, and to achieve the goal of new energy utilization rate exceeding 95% in advance, fundamentally solving the "three abandonments" problem requires the joint efforts of governments at all levels, various power generation enterprises, various levels of grid enterprises, and the entire society, coordinating the development of source, grid, load, and storage.

In terms of power sources

According to the consumption targets of various regions, combined with the grid connection conditions and consumption capacity of local grids, reasonably determine the annual construction scale, layout, and timing of clean energy. Accelerate the implementation of flexibility transformation of thermal power units, striving to complete a transformation scale of over 40 million kilowatts in 2019. Standardize the construction and operation management of coal-fired self-built power plants, managing grid-connected coal-fired self-built power plants on par with public power plants, obeying unified dispatching of the grid, and undertaking peak regulation obligations and corresponding social responsibilities. Enhance the grid-related performance of new energy stations to support the high proportion of new energy access and operation.

In terms of users

Implement clean heating "coal-to-electricity" measures, expand the scale of electricity substitution, and increase the proportion of electricity in terminal energy consumption. Promote electricity demand response, improve the flexibility of load resources, and actively respond to changes in new energy output.

In terms of policy mechanisms

Coordinate development and consumption, improve the unified planning mechanism for power sources and power grids, and for new energy and various power sources. Improve the market mechanism to promote the consumption of clean energy, establish and improve compensation mechanisms for clean energy participation in intra-provincial and inter-provincial market transactions and thermal power peak regulation, and encourage clean energy generation to participate in the spot market. Improve the guaranteed purchase policy for renewable energy, and ensure a good connection between priority power generation guarantee and market-oriented consumption.