By the end of the month, the combined installed capacity of wind and solar power in China will be approximately 100 million kilowatts.

New Power System, Adapted to "Fluctuating" New Energy

Xuanhua District, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, has fully developed barren hills and slopes, vigorously promoted the photovoltaic power generation industry, and driven the optimization of the energy structure. The picture shows a photovoltaic power station located in Dabaozi Village, Gujiaying Town, Xuanhua District, Zhangjiakou City. Photo by Chen Xiaodong (People's Vision)

China's new energy installation ratio is steadily increasing. However, the "fluctuating" characteristics of new energy power such as wind and solar energy also pose higher requirements for the construction of the power system. A senior official from the National Energy Administration stated that China will further improve supporting implementation plans, accelerate the implementation of actions to build a new type of power system, and support local governments in actively taking the lead in trials, aiming for a "stable" power system to match new energy sources.

At the recently held New Power System Development (Chongli) Forum, Yang Kun, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Electricity Council, introduced that China's power sector is making strong progress in its transition towards clean and low-carbon energy. As of the end of the month, China's total installed power generation capacity was approximately 2.47 billion kilowatts. Among this, the combined installed capacity of wind and solar power was about 740 million kilowatts, accounting for around 30% of the global total. Meanwhile, China's power supply capacity has been continuously improving, market mechanisms are being steadily enhanced, and pilot demonstrations of new power system construction have achieved significant results, providing rich empirical evidence and case studies for the construction of new power systems.

"The wind from Zhangjiakou lit up the lights of the Beijing Winter Olympics" — During the Beijing Winter Olympics, clean energy from Zhangbei County, Zhangjiakou City, provided a steady supply of electricity to the Olympic venues. This is a significant achievement in the construction of a new power system demonstration area. It is reported that relying on the Zhangjiakou National Clean Energy Base and the National Renewable Energy Demonstration Zone, State Grid Jibei Electric Power Company has built the first grid-forming renewable energy station system in North China and the world's first flexible DC ring network project, demonstrating significant construction effectiveness.

From the perspective of endowment conditions, the northern Hebei region is rich in new energy resources, with the potential development scale in Zhangjiakou and Chengde alone reaching hundreds of millions of kilowatts. Currently, the installed capacity of new energy in northern Hebei is tens of millions of kilowatts, and it is expected to exceed hundreds of millions of kilowatts by the end of the year. Zhang Wei, Chairman of State Grid Jibei Electric Power Co., Ltd., stated that in terms of basic conditions, northern Hebei has a complete set of energy transition elements, with the power source side possessing the endowment and foundation for promoting the integrated development of wind, solar, water, fire, storage, and hydrogen.

Abundant new energy must not only be generated but also transmitted. As a crucial hub for the West-to-East and North-to-South power transmission within the North China Power Grid, the Jibei Power Grid has already constructed the Zhangbei-Xiong'an Ultra-High Voltage (UHV), Zhangbei Flexible Direct Current (DC), and multiple kilovolt AC transmission channels. Various grid technologies and forms, including UHV, AC/DC, flexible transmission, and microgrids, are fully equipped. On the demand side, local data centers, green hydrogen production, clean heating, heavy-duty truck charging and swapping, distributed energy, virtual power plants, and other new energy utilization and service methods are developing rapidly. On the energy storage side, pumped storage power stations and new energy storage technologies are being vigorously promoted, providing solid guarantees for the utilization and absorption of new energy.

The construction of some new power system demonstration areas has provided relevant reference experiences. On a national scale, with the large-scale and high-proportion integration of new energy sources and the connection of related electronic power equipment, the stability control of the power system has become more complex, and the difficulty of ensuring the safe and stable operation of the grid continues to increase. At the same time, the construction of new power systems requires mature technical support, and its economic efficiency still needs to be improved. These issues require relevant policies to provide guidance and support.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the National Energy Administration, and the National Data Bureau have recently issued the "Action Plan for Accelerating the Construction of a New Power System (—Year)", which specifies that from —, key efforts will be made to carry out 100 special actions to advance the construction of a new power system. "The action plan aims to address immediate critical issues. Based on the current stage of development, it focuses on the key areas where breakthroughs are urgently needed in the construction of a new power system, and clearly outlines the key tasks from —, striving for quick results to serve the practical needs of the current transformation and development of the power system," said a relevant official from the National Energy Administration.

What specific actions are included in the special campaign? Reporters have found that the campaign includes actions such as the Power System Stability Assurance Action, the Large-Scale High-Proportion New Energy Transmission Offensive Action, the High-Quality Development Action for Distribution Networks, the Construction of a Smart Dispatching System, the Enhancement of New Energy System Friendliness, the Upgrading Action for the New Generation of Coal-Fired Power, the Optimization Action for Power System Regulation Capacity, the Expansion Action for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Networks, and the Improvement Action for Demand-Side Coordination Capabilities.

Taking the optimization of power system regulation capability as an example, in response to the continuous growth in demand for regulation capabilities in new power systems, the action plan proposes to fully leverage the regulation capabilities of new energy storage systems on the basis of utilizing conventional regulation measures. This involves constructing a number of shared energy storage power stations, exploring the application of a range of new energy storage technologies, accelerating the large-scale application of new energy storage, and simultaneously improving the mechanisms for dispatch and market-oriented operation.

"For the special actions proposed in the action plan, we will further deepen our research and, as needed, introduce the implementation plan for the special actions to efficiently and orderly advance the implementation of various actions." said the above-mentioned official from the National Energy Administration.