Growth in Wind and Sun: Integrating Variable Generation in China

Abstract

Variable generation (VG) in China is primarily wind and photovoltaic (PV) power. By the end of 2014, the cumulative installed capacity of VG in China reached 123.86 GW, accounting for 9.1% of the country?s total generation capacity. The cumulative installed capacity of wind and PV power were, 95.81 GW and 28.05 GW, respectively. The total amount of energy generated from VG in 2014 was 181 TWh (of which wind power was 156 TWh and PV power 25 TWh), accounting for 3.3% of total electricity generation. The newly installed capacity of wind and PV power in 2014 was 19.5 GW and 10.6 GW, respectively, accounting for 28% of the newly installed capacity of all generation types. Following coal-fired power and hydropower, wind has already become China?s third-largest power source both by capacity and by power generation, after nine years of high-speed growth. A rapid development of PV power generation has been experienced since 2010. The newly installed PV capacity in 2013 and 2014 reached over 10 GW for two consecutive years, accounting for about one-third of newly installed PV capacity worldwide over the same period. By capacity, PVs have become China?s fifth largest generation source after natural gas based generation.