‘Laggard’ China powers ahead on renewable energy

A wind turbine is assembled on an offshore platform in Fujian province in June

Policy support, innovation and strong investment have seen the country leapfrog global competitors. Hou Liqiang reports.

More than four decades ago, lacking the necessary technology and research and development capabilities, China was only able to manufacture micro turbines for off-grid power generation.

In stark contrast, however, news about the giant leap forward in China’s wind power development has repeatedly hit the headlines over the past two years.

In February last year, a 13-megawatt offshore wind turbine, which had the largest single-unit capacity in Asia at the time, rolled off a production line in Fujian province.

Only nine months later, the facility was dwarfed by a 16-MW offshore wind turbine, which was also assembled in Fujian and led the world in terms of single-unit capacity. In June, a 20-MW wind turbine produced in Shandong province set another record.

The contrast is indicative of the significant progress China has made in the development of renewable energy from a laggard to a leader, which has helped sharply bring down the cost for renewables, experts said.

While the achievement has not been easy, China has accumulated vast experiences that are instructive for other nations, especially developing states, in promoting energy transition on a large scale, they said.

Consistent and comprehensive policy support and the great importance attached to capacity building and production standards are among the factors that have helped China top the world in renewables, they added.

According to the National Energy Administration, the total capacity of grid-connected wind turbines across China only stood at 1.06 million kilowatts in 2005. By the end of last year, the capacity had soared to 365 million KW.

Renewable proportion of total installed capacity

During that period, China saw its combined installed capacity for photovoltaic power jump from just 70,000 KW to 392 million KW. Its proportion of the global total skyrocketed from less than 1.4 percent to more than 33 percent.

By the end of June, the installed capacity of renewable energy in China had exceeded 1.3 billion KW, surpassing the installed capacity of coal-fired power for the first time.

Policy-driven process

The development of large-scale renewable energy in China has significantly brought down the global cost of renewables, said Wang Weiquan, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association. “China deserves all the credit,” he said.

Thanks to China’s contribution, the cost of photovoltaic power generation is now as low as 1 cent for 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity in the Middle East, where the costs of land use and financing are relatively low, he said.

Wang attributed the remarkable achievement to consistent, systematic and tailor-made policies introduced during different development stages. “We have a sound system for renewable energy development,” he said.

Driven by these policies, a broad market for renewable energy development was formed. This then boosted the development of upstream manufacturing industries and also the entire industry chain, he noted, citing the subsidized price for renewable energy, or the feed-in tariff, as an example.

The feed-in tariff — a surcharge on electricity bills — guaranteed solar and wind companies above-market prices for their energy, which helped attract a large number of investors to the sector, he added.

China also introduced a dedicated renewable energy law in 2005, has incorporated renewable energy development into its five-year plans since 1996, and established a sound mechanism to guarantee the absorption of newly added renewable energy output, Wang said.

In another move, the country set up the Renewable Energy Development Fund to support development of the sector, he added.

In 2009, the country’s top legislature amended the Law on Renewable Energy to require electricity grid companies to buy all the power produced by renewable energy generators.

Winds of change

Hou Yuhan, group marketing director of Goldwind Science & Technology, a leading Chinese wind turbine manufacturer, underscored the importance of “continuity, stability and sustainability” in the country’s policies for the development of the wind energy sector.

“Since the 1990s, China’s central and regional governments have introduced a slew of policies concerning the renewable energy sector, creating a stable policy environment and favorable conditions for wind energy development,” she said.

Hou added that the introduction of China’s dual-carbon targets in 2020 and the national policy framework to implement the goals “have propelled the renewable energy sector to a key development stage”.

In 2020, China announced that it aimed to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and realize carbon neutrality before 2060.

The country has released a raft of new policies to guide the energy transition, which have prioritized green, low-carbon energy development, scientific and technological innovation, institutional innovation, regulatory efficiency and international cooperation, Hou said.

Du Zhongming, president of the China Electric Power Planning & Engineering Institute, said China has dynamically adjusted its policies concerning renewable energy.

“Based on situations and needs at different development stages, these policies are adjusted accordingly to make the best use of the circumstances,” he said.

As technology develops and economic efficiency improves in the renewable energy sector, for instance, the subsidies for renewable energy in China were gradually reduced, he said.

After six adjustments to the subsidies for wind power and eight for solar PV power, he said, the on-grid power tariffs of these two types of renewable energy equal those of coal-fired power.

The feed-in tariff has played a role in “giving a leg up” to the wind and solar PV power sectors to get them going, he added.

On Jan 1, 2021, China ended feed-in tariffs for new solar and onshore wind projects that had been in place for more than a decade. Before halting the tariffs, China introduced a mechanism in 2019 to guarantee consumption of renewable energy, setting minimum levels of regional consumption.

International cooperation

Wang, from the renewable energy industries association, emphasized the importance of a complete national standards system and international cooperation for the development of a robust renewable energy industry in China.

“Without the standards, enterprises in the sector will be sheep without a shepherd and produce products with diversified models that don’t match each other and are of mixed quality,” he said.

China has introduced many standards that cover not only manufacturing, but also the construction and operation of power farms, which guarantee the long-term and sustainable development of the sector and have helped reduce costs, Wang said.

In the early stages of its renewable energy development, China, then a global laggard in the sector, engaged heavily in bilateral and multilateral cooperation, Wang said.

A series of demonstration projects were implemented thanks to aid from international organizations and leading countries in wind power development, such as Germany and Denmark, he added.

China improved its capacity building from such cooperation, and a large number of talented people, including policymakers, entrepreneurs and skilled workers, were developed, Wang said. Many senior executives now at leading solar and wind power companies in China participated in training programs during the period of cooperation, he added.

International companies also invested in China, and these investments were mutually beneficial, he said. While those companies made profits in the Chinese market, China managed to master the technologies it needed to develop the industry.

“The development of China’s wind power industry has been closely linked to the wind power technology acquired through international cooperation,” Goldwind’s Hou said.

As early starters, developed nations’ wind power industries had accumulated abundant capital and technology. However, they also needed to expand their markets when China’s wind energy sector was in its infancy, she said.

Against the backdrop of globalization, Hou said China saw its earliest batch of wind power projects launched with support from international companies, which brought opportunities for companies like Goldwind to learn about advanced equipment and technologies used overseas. Hou said Goldwind also seized all available opportunities to go overseas to learn.

Wu Gang, the company’s chairman, has led study tours many times to European countries that are leaders in wind power development.

“By consistently digesting, absorbing and upgrading (international technologies), Goldwind embarked on the path of independent research and development, ultimately succeeding in manufacturing China’s own big wind turbines,” Hou said.

Li Chuangjun, director of the National Energy Administration’s new energy and renewable energy department, underscored the role of innovation, which was fueled at the very beginning by international cooperation during China’s renewable energy industry boom.

He said innovation in China’s renewable energy sector has introduced, digested, absorbed, and “re-innovated” various technologies.

The country’s wind power sector has surpassed international levels in terms of large-scale technology and floating units, with breakthroughs in building key components such as spindle bearings for high-power units and ultra-long blades, he said.

“Through international cooperation, China managed to rapidly narrow the gap to international leaders by learning from their strong points and eventually surpass them,” he said.

Hou Liqiang, China Daily, Courtesy China Daily