The future of wind energy development in China: drivers and barriers

Abstract

In face of the recent economic slowdown and increasing pressure to substantially reduce carbon emissions, China has placed wind energy on top of its energy policy agenda. Chinese government has adopted various pro-wind energy policies, including fixed feed-in-tariff and priority dispatch. Remarkable progress in wind energy development has been achieved over the last two decades, especially in terms of installed energy capacity. Currently, China tops the world in wind energy capacity. However, wind energy output is less well performed. Barriers to full deployment of wind energy in China remain, ranging from overcapacity in electricity generation, wind curtailment, poor grid connectivity, lack of an ancillary service market, absence of demand response (DR) and energy storage, differential priorities between the central and the local governments, to vested interests among coal-fired power plants and the local governments. Several initiatives have been undertaken by the Chinese government to address and eliminate these barriers, including: energy coordination, coal-fired power plant retrofit, smart DR, development of a well-functioned ancillary service market, setting of a legal binding carbon reduction target, and a mature carbon-trading market. To ensure sustainable development of wind energy industry and the smooth integration of wind to the grid, China needs to substantially transform its current electricity system, including the development of distributed generation, proactive transmission planning, smart grid development, merit-based dispatch, and continual electricity market reform via pricing improvement. A low-carbon and clean energy pathway can be foreseeable in China, through continuous investments in wind and other forms of renewable energy and addressing the above technological and market challenges.