China needs a sustainable energy system, and it is necessary to change the traditional mind-set for planning and dispatching the system and also look at the institutional set-up for the energy system in order to implement a sustainable system. The message is clear from Shi Lishan, deputy director in the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Administration. In an article in China Renewable Energy, the new magazine from China National Renewable Energy Centre, Shi Lishan explains what is needed for the transition to a sustainable energy system. The ingredients are a combination of energy efficiency measures and further large-scale deployment of renewable energy, both in centralised and in distributed systems. But introduction of large amount of fluctuating electricity in the electricity system will reduce the production from fossil fuelled power plants – existing base-load units will become producers in peak-load hours and in hours with little production from the uncontrollable renewable energy sources like wind and solar. It requires new thinking and also new division of roles between the utilities in the electricity sector to get this to work. Also the deployment of distributed power units like solar rooftops and small wind turbines requires new regulation and new tariff systems in order to make in possible to use the grid as buffer between the local demand and the local production.

Shi Lishan concludes that there are no technical for increasing the share of renewable energy in the electricity system. Neither would a high share of renewables necessarily affect the safe operation of the electric system. However, an increasing amount of renewable energy generation will have higher costs, it will require more reserve capacity in electric system, and it would require more transmission capacity and a more solid grid structure. A higher share of renewable will also affect the other generating units, as the amount of full-load hours will be lower. The requirements to electric system management and operation will be stricter and the users will pay for higher tariff.

The article is from my point of view a very important step in the development of a comprehensive understanding of the real challenges in the further deployment of renewable energy in China. For a number of years focus has been on the technology development and technical challenges with integration of wind. Now it is clear, that the institutional challenges are important obstacles for renewable energy, and that these challenges should be addressed quickly and efficient in the pathway to sustainability.

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