China Southern Power Grid Achieves Remarkable Progress in Clean Power Supply
China Southern Power Grid recently held a press conference to announce the release of the “China Southern Power Grid New Power System Development Report (2021-2023)”. The report revealed that the five southern provinces and regions of China, namely Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hainan, added an impressive 23.94 million kilowatts of non-fossil energy installed capacity from January to September this year. This accounts for 81.5% of the total newly installed capacity, surpassing the national average by 10 percentage points and indicating the significant progress made in establishing a clean power supply pattern in the region.
As the country continues to prioritize the accelerated development of non-fossil energy, the report further highlighted that the installed capacity of new energy in the five southern provinces and regions has exceeded 100 million kilowatts as of the end of September. Non-fossil energy accounts for 59% of the total installed power supply, and this is expected to surpass 60% by the end of the year. Furthermore, more than 80% of the new power sources in these regions during the first three quarters of 2021 were non-fossil energy sources.
Du Zhongming, President of the General Institute of Electric Power Planning and Design, praised the southern region’s progress in optimizing the allocation of hydropower, wind, and solar resources. He emphasized that the proportion of non-fossil energy in China will continue to increase as the construction of new power systems accelerates, with the high proportion achieved in the southern region representing the overall trend in the country’s power development.
While the clean power supply pattern has taken shape in the southern provinces, China Southern Power Grid has also successfully ensured stable power supply, supported rapid demand growth, and maintained the safe operation of the system. The main grid and the five southern provinces and regions experienced record-high loads 20 times in a month during the peak summer season. Additionally, electricity consumption in the region saw a 6.4% year-on-year increase from January to August.
China Southern Power Grid’s new power system construction has achieved significant milestones after over two years of research and exploration. These achievements include the establishment of a key carrier for the digital grid, the widespread implementation of charging piles in towns and villages, the integration of scattered power loads through regional virtual power plants, and the promotion of the southern regional power market utilizing market mechanisms to guide coordinated development.
Meng Zhenping, Chairman and Party Secretary of China Southern Power Grid Corporation, stated that the goal of building a new power system is to achieve a clean and low-carbon environment while ensuring security, abundance, and economic efficiency. The system is characterized by multi-energy synergy and complementation, source-grid-load-storage interaction, and multi-network integration and interconnection. The company aims to fulfill reliable power supply, grid safety, and economic power delivery while accelerating the digital grid’s development and advocating for “two-information synergy” and “two-type construction.” By 2025, the company aims to complete the full digital transformation of the power grid, support the access and consumption of over 100 million kilowatts of new energy, and achieve a 55% proportion of non-fossil energy power generation in the southern provinces and regions. It also aims to raise the proportion of electric energy in terminal energy consumption to 35% while establishing a more complete system and mechanism tailored to the construction of new power systems, possessing the basic characteristics of being clean and low-carbon, safe and abundant, economical and efficient, supply and demand coordinated, flexible and intelligent.
China Southern Power Grid’s significant progress in achieving a clean power supply pattern reflects the country’s commitment to promoting sustainable energy development and combating climate change. With continued efforts, China is well on its way to realizing its renewable energy goals and contributing to a greener future.