Integrated development of renewable energy to help high-quality economic development | Take the pulse of China's economy

(The author is secretary-general of the Energy and Environment Committee of the China Energy Research Society)

After more than 40 years of development, China's renewable energy has grown from scratch, from small to large, ranking among the top in the world in terms of installed capacity and production capacity of products and equipment, making great contributions to China's clean and low-carbon transformation and global response to climate change.

In the context of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, renewable energy will enter a stage of development with a high proportion of large-scale development, and will change from a pivotal energy to a major responsibility, and from supplementary energy to the main energy. In this process, the development of the renewable energy industry is gradually showing a trend of integration, including the integration of upstream and downstream industries, the integration of other energy varieties, the integration of other industries, and even the integration of other regions, which can not only realize the optimization and adjustment of China's energy structure, but also reduce pollution and carbon emissions, and help China's high-quality economic development.

Integrate the upstream and downstream of the renewable energy industry chain to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs

In the photovoltaic field, polysilicon and wafer companies, wafer and module companies, and module and power generation companies have in-depth cooperation, and enterprises have established long-term cooperation mechanisms through strategic alliances, long-term orders, technical cooperation, and mutual equity participation, so as to jointly resist the risks and challenges of the supply chain, actively lay out high-end links in the value chain, promote the transfer of the industrial chain and supply chain, improve the efficiency of the industrial chain, and effectively reduce the cost of the industrial chain. In the field of wind power, many wind power companies have shifted from a single business to wind power generation, wind power manufacturing and wind power services. Leading wind turbine manufacturers have transformed to new energy and smart grid, energy storage, photovoltaic, hydrogen production and comprehensive energy development, and have become integrated energy service providers. Through the integrated development of these upstream and downstream, joint research and development can overcome the technical problems existing in the industrial chain, improve the quality and efficiency of products, reduce the cost of the entire industrial chain, and improve the economic return and competitiveness of renewable energy.

Renewable energy and other energy sources are integrated to improve stability and reliability

Renewable energy is volatile and unstable and cannot provide frequency and peak regulation and moment of inertia. The large-scale and high proportion of wind power and photovoltaic power generation are connected to the power grid, which brings certain challenges to the stable operation and security of the power grid, and will increase the dispatch cost of the power grid. The development of renewable energy needs to be integrated with other energy sources to improve its stability and reliability, reduce the impact on the power grid, and improve the friendliness of the power system. Therefore, renewable energy is gradually integrating with coal, nuclear power, and natural gas power generation. Not only that, renewable energy, hydrogen energy, and energy storage will also be integrated to achieve the development model of wind, solar, water, fire, and storage integration, one is to reduce the impact of wind power and photovoltaic power generation instability on the power grid through mutual aid between power sources, and ensure the stable operation of the power grid, and the other is through the large-scale application of hydrogen energy and energy storage, which can not only smooth the output of photovoltaic power generation and wind power, but also partially solve the problem of wind and solar abandonment. In the eastern and central regions of China, strengthen the receiving end to rely on power from outside the province and local power supply to meet the new power demand, realize the complementarity of "electricity from afar" and "electricity from the side", and improve the safe and stable operation level of the system.

The integrated development of renewable energy across industries will promote the high-quality development of other industries

In the future, renewable power, as a factor of production, will achieve cross-border integration and integration with other industries. The first is to realize the integration with materials, chemistry, chemical industry, electronics, machinery, electrical, electrical, electrical, electronics, glass and other industries, improve the quality and performance of raw materials, parts and components, and the whole machine, prolong the service life, and improve the friendliness of the power grid and the environment, especially the key raw materials and components that are conducive to overcoming the bottleneck. The second is to realize the integration with wind and solar energy resource assessment and prediction technology, automatic control technology, digital technology, simulation technology, communication information technology, unmanned aerial vehicles and other industries, improve the accuracy of wind power and photovoltaic power prediction, improve the intelligence and digitalization of operation and maintenance management, reduce operation and maintenance costs, improve operation efficiency, predict extreme weather in advance, and reduce operation failures. Renewables should not only reduce CO2 emissions from the power sector, but also reduce CO2 emissions from other sectors by increasing the proportion of electricity in end-use energy. For example, through the integrated development of the Internet of Vehicles and electric vehicles, carbon emissions in the transportation sector can be reduced, carbon emissions in the steel industry can be reduced through short-process steelmaking, green hydrogen can be provided for the petrochemical industry through green electricity hydrogen production, and clean energy can be provided for rural areas through the integration of rural revitalization, while helping rural revitalization. Fourth, realize the integrated development with the financial industry. Therefore, renewable energy will integrate with the financial industry, further reduce financing costs, and provide financial support for new formats and new models such as renewable energy + hydrogen energy and renewable energy + energy storage, and finally realize the commercialization of hydrogen energy and energy storage through the combination of industry and finance, laying the foundation for the diversified development and utilization of renewable energy in multiple scenarios.

The cross-regional integrated development of renewable energy has helped China's international cooperation

Under the influence of multiple factors such as climate change, energy transition and energy security, vigorously developing renewable energy has become a global consensus. Whether it is the European Union, the United States, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and other developed countries and regions, as well as Southeast Asia, Central and Western Asia, the Middle East, South America, Africa and other regions, renewable energy is an important strategic goal. This has created conditions and space for China's international cooperation in renewable energy.

In the process of growing renewable energy from scratch and from small to large, China has accumulated a lot of first-hand experience in the formulation and implementation of policies and regulations, product research and development and manufacturing, pilot demonstration project construction, market cultivation, talent training, and standard formulation, which can be used as a reference for other countries and regions. In addition, China has a complete renewable energy industry chain, whether it is photovoltaic modules, inverters, etc., or wind turbines, all have the technology and production capacity to cooperate with other countries and regions. At the same time, China has rich practical experience in the construction and operation of renewable energy projects and general contracting, especially in the development and utilization of renewable energy in complex environments, and has a lot of experience and has the basis for cooperation with other countries and regions. Therefore, there is huge space for overseas markets in the future, especially after President Xi Jinping announced that China will no longer build new overseas coal power plants, renewable energy will become an important part of China's international cooperation and will promote global sustainable development.