The installed capacity of new energy in the five southern provinces and regions reached 145 million kilowatts, accounting for 32% of the total installed capacity, surpassing coal power for the first time.

China Southern Power Grid Corporation announced on April 11 that the installed new energy capacity of five southern provinces and regions including Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hainan reached 145 million kilowatts, accounting for 32% of the total installed capacity, surpassing coal power for the first time. New energy sources such as wind and light have become the largest power source type in the five southern provinces, contributing about one-third of the actual social and economic power consumption.

▲ The picture shows the Mingyang "Qingzhou IV" offshore wind power project located in Yangjiang, Guangdong.

In recent years, the installed capacity of new energy in the southern region has grown rapidly. According to statistics from China Southern Power Grid, in the three years from 2021 to 2023, new energy accounted for 63% of the new power supply in the five southern provinces and regions, accounting for 10.71 million kilowatts, 8.44 million kilowatts, and 48.57 million kilowatts respectively. By the end of 2023, the total installed capacity of new energy in the five southern provinces and regions will exceed 132 million kilowatts, double that of 2020.

From the perspective of provinces and regions, the installed capacity of new energy in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hainan is 50.16 million kilowatts, 29.32 million kilowatts, 38.6 million kilowatts, 20.52 million kilowatts, and 6.39 million kilowatts respectively, accounting for 27%, 44%, 31%, 32%, and 44%. Guangxi and Hainan account for nearly half of the installed capacity of new energy.

In terms of actual power generation, the maximum single-day power generation of new energy in the five southern provinces and regions has hit record highs six times since the beginning of this year, reaching a maximum of 1.04 billion kilowatt-hours, and the daily power generation penetration rate (the proportion of power generation in total installed output) reaches the highest 31.12%.

"This is equivalent to every 3 kilowatt-hours of electricity used that day, about 1 kilowatt-hour comes from new energy units." Wang Haohuai, manager of the Hydropower and New Energy Division of the Power Dispatching and Control Center of China Southern Power Grid, said that so far this year, the new energy power generation capacity of the five southern provinces and regions has reached 65.3 billion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of 67%.

At present, new energy in the southern region is still growing rapidly. In the first quarter of this year, new energy was put into production by 12.54 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 72%.