PROBLEMS OF GROWTH OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES IN CHINA

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the problems of alternative energy in China. Ensuring economic growth is achieved by stable and sufficient supplies of energy to the needs of industry. Geopolitical tensions give rise to the development of national energy resources and, above all, renewable energy sources, development of which has a number of issues. A detailed examination of the 14th Five-Year (2021–2025) Energy Plan revealed challenges to China’s energy goals. Firstly, the main issue of alternative generation is the high level of «losses», i.e. the need to balance energy production with its consumption. The unevenness of energy production throughout the day, the lack of high-power batteries, as well as high-voltage lines for energy transmission, heighten this problem. Secondly, the struggle for land gives rise to competition with agriculture, construction and industrial sectors. Thirdly, alternative energy generation faces the problem of its insufficient efficiency (characterized by the ratio of energy production/ installed capacity, as well as energy density), which leads to reduction in subsidies and the replacement of renewable energy sources with more efficient, but currently less developed reserves of unconventional gas in China. The problem of subsidies is partly solved by the introduction of «green» financing as well as financing from special funds (AIIB, Silk Road Fund, NDB), that allows the implementation of distributed generation projects by attracting investor funds, as well as supporting promising energy production technologies. Most of the shortcomings relate to renewable energy sources, so China is actively developing other areas – nuclear generation, hydrogen production, and optimizing energy flows between inner regions.