China’s renewable energy surge strains power grid – a warning to ‘net zero’ advocates

Chinese wind power [image credit: clearwinds.co.uk]

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The UK equivalent of China’s restrictions on renewable power generation would mean even larger constraint payments than the current £billions, and even bigger increases in costly transmission lines than already happening or planned. But that’s the implication of pushing ever harder for mythical net zero targets, resulting in greater fluctuations between excessive electricity and shortage of it. China can at least rely on its plentiful coal generation capacity, but the UK can’t.
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China’s record-breaking deployment of wind and solar capacity has worsened regional power imbalances, forcing the country to idle increasing amounts of renewable generation when it overwhelms local consumption, says Reuters (via OilPrice.com).

New government regulations aim to reduce the amount of renewable generation that has to be abandoned by increasing long-distance transmission links and better coordinating generation plans across provinces.
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Increased penetration of intermittent renewables is making it harder to manage a nationwide transmission system that was already struggling with large regional imbalances between generation and load.

The solution to variable wind and solar output is to smooth out fluctuations across a larger number of generators spread over much larger areas of the country, which will require more transmission and better scheduling.
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In response, China’s State Grid Corporation has constructed a network of ultra-high voltage transmission lines to move power thousands of kilometres from surplus areas in the west and north to deficit areas in the east and south.

In the process, China has become the world leader in ultra-high voltage transmission to move electricity over long distances while minimising line losses and is exporting its expertise around the world.

Full article here.
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Image: Chinese wind power [credit: clearwinds.co.uk]