Sustainable energy landscape takes shape(2)

According to the two institutes, the construction of new energy storage facilities in China has been accelerating in recent years. By the end of 2022, the installed capacity of new energy storage projects across the country had reached 8.7 million kilowatts, with an additional capacity exceeding 4.5 million kW.

Among these, the northern and northwestern regions have relatively large installations, accounting for about 55 percent of the national total. From January to June, about 8.63 million kW of newly added installations were put into service. This took the total installed capacity of newly operational new energy storage projects in the country to 17.33 million kW by the end of June.

According to Li Chuangjun, director-general of the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Administration, China's new energy innovation has gone through technology introduction, digestion and absorption, and re-innovation in recent years.

The latest Chinese-developed wind turbine, which is also the world's first 16-MW ultra-large offshore wind turbine, can generate 66 million kilowatt-hours per year, equivalent to the electricity consumption of 36,000 families in one year.

Hundreds of sensors and laser radars scattered over the whole machine can sense temperature, humidity, wind speed and other information to track the running state of the turbine and adjust the angle and generation power automatically.

Li said China's wind power sector has surpassed international levels in terms of technology of large-scale units and floating units, with breakthroughs made in key components such as spindle bearings of high-power units and ultra-long blades.

Crystalline silicon photovoltaic technology in China has also continued to develop, with the efficiency of domestically developed perovskite cells, a next-generation photovoltaic battery, reaching 26 percent, a new world record, he said.

Li Zhenguo, president of LONGi Green Energy Technology Co Ltd, a leading photovoltaic module supplier, said technological innovation is the core driving force behind the progress made in the photovoltaic industry so far.

The improvement of battery conversion efficiency has played a key role in this regard, he said.

According to Rao, thanks to the technological advances, China's energy supply capacity has significantly strengthened over the past few years.

Figures released by the China Electric Power Planning &Engineering Institute reveal that in 2022, the total primary energy production reached 4.66 billion tons of standard coal, up 9 percent year-on-year.

Nonfossil energy power generation achieved new breakthroughs, with the installed capacity of nonfossil energy power generation reaching 1.27 billion kW, accounting for nearly half of the total.

Wind and photovoltaic power installations exceeded 120 million kW, and their power generation surpassed 1 trillion kWh for the first time, the institute said.

Energy storage and transportation infrastructure has been further improved and power transmission channels have continued to develop. Oil and gas storage and transportation facilities have been continuously strengthened while the scale of new energy storage and pumped storage hydropower has reached new heights, the institute said.

According to the Report on China Electric Energy Development 2023 released by the institute in Beijing in August, China's energy consumption continues to exhibit a trend of firm growth.

In 2022, the total energy consumption in the country reached 5.41 billion tons of standard coal, up nearly 3 percent year-on-year. The share of nonfossil energy consumption has increased to 17.5 percent, while the proportions of petroleum and natural gas consumption have decreased to nearly 18 percent and more than 8 percent, respectively.

Coal continues to play a major role in ensuring energy supply, with its consumption share rising to 56 percent, it said.