[International Energy Network Live Report] The side event titled “Agricultural, Pastoral, and Aquatic Photovoltaic Integration Technology Workshop” was held in the China Pavilion in the blue zone of the COP16 venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the morning of December 11. The seminar was hosted by the Center for Energy Transformation and Social Development of the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University and co-hosted by Global Environmental Institute (GEI), China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute, China National Sand Control and Desert Industry Society and International Energy Network.
Zhang Jiali, Vice President of Renewable Energy Research Institute of China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute, gave a speech theme of “The Road to High-Quality Development of China’s Solar PV Industry” and gave a detailed introduction to the current development status of China’s photovoltaic industry and the situation and challenges it faces, and put forward four suggestions.
Zhang Jiali, Vice President of Renewable Energy Research Institute, China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute
China‘s photovoltaic industry has formed the most dynamic innovation and complete industrial chain in the world
Vice President Zhang Jiali introduced that by the end of June 2024, China cumulative installed capacity of solar power generation will be 713 million kilowatts, 41 times the installed capacity at the end of 2013, with an average annual growth of more than 50%; accounting for 23.2% of the country’s total installed capacity of power sources, the second largest installed power source. A total of 22 provinces in China have a cumulative grid-connected installed capacity of more than 10 million kilowatts.
Since the “14th Five-Year Plan”, China photovoltaic power generation has adhered to the development strategy of both concentration and distribution. In terms of concentration, it is mainly in the “Three Norths” region, especially in deserts, Gobi and desert areas to build large-scale wind power and photovoltaic bases; in terms of distribution, it is mainly in the central and southern regions to develop distributed photovoltaics locally.
The proportion of distributed photovoltaics in China continues to increase, and it has become an “important force” in the photovoltaic field. By the end of June 2024, centralized photovoltaic power generation will reach 403 million kilowatts, distributed photovoltaic power generation will reach 310 million kilowatts (including 132 million kilowatts of household photovoltaic power generation), and the proportion of distributed photovoltaic power generation will reach 43.4%.
In 2023, China photovoltaic power generation will reach 582.3 billion kWh, 23 times that of 2013 (25 billion kWh), accounting for 6.2% of the national power generation, an increase of 1.3 percentage points from 2022. In the first half of 2024, photovoltaic power generation will reach 391.4 billion kWh, accounting for 8.6% of the power generation, exceeding 50% of the national residential electricity consumption (675.7 billion kWh) in the same period.
China photovoltaic industry is a strategic emerging industry with obvious international competitive advantages. It has formed the world’s most dynamic innovation chain and the most complete industrial chain. The market share of major products such as polysilicon, silicon wafers, battery cells, and modules has ranked first in the world for many years.
Vice President Zhang Jiali pointed out that the research of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and other institutions pointed out that in 2050, 85% to 90% of the world’s electricity generation will come from renewable energy. In 2023, the China-US Sunshine Country Declaration and the COP28 Global Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Commitment both proposed to strive to triple the global renewable energy installed capacity by 2030. Accelerating energy transformation is a common consensus among countries around the world.
It is expected that by 2027, the global cumulative photovoltaic installed capacity will surpass all other power sources. In 2050, the proportion of renewable energy power generation will increase to 85%, of which photovoltaic and wind power will account for more than 60%; the proportion of renewable energy installed capacity will exceed 90%, and photovoltaic installed capacity will exceed 14 billion kilowatts.
China photovoltaic industry faces a series of challenges and opportunities to achieve new development
Vice President Zhang Jiali believes that China photovoltaic industry faces a series of challenges and opportunities to achieve new development. The gradual withdrawal of traditional energy must be based on the safe and reliable substitution of new energy. It requires both large-scale development and high-level consumption, as well as the guarantee of safe and reliable energy supply. Renewable energy is “stable and reliable” and faces multiple challenges such as development space, grid-connected transmission, efficient consumption, safe operation, and economy. In this regard, she made four suggestions:
First, adhere to the common development of centralized photovoltaic power stations and distributed ones. Develop centralized photovoltaic power stations on a large scale based on bases. Centralized photovoltaic power stations are mainly built in the northwest, especially in deserts, Gobi and desert areas. After the successful exploration of offshore photovoltaic power in the central and eastern regions, it can form a “sea-to-land transmission” pattern with offshore wind power; the southwest region has an integrated layout of water, wind and light. Promote distributed photovoltaic power to become an important force in energy transformation and power supply guarantee in the central and eastern regions. In accordance with the principle of starting from near to far, first near and then far, and giving priority to development, vigorously promote the development and utilization of distributed new energy.
Secondly, continuously improve the “photovoltaic + energy storage” development model. Explore ways to improve the utilization efficiency of energy storage facilities by centralized configuration of energy storage and shared energy storage, and reduce investment waste caused by decentralized construction. Centralized energy storage and shared energy storage can provide auxiliary services for new energy power stations and power grids in the region through interconnection, coordinated control and overall management. At the same time, it is necessary to coordinate the application of multiple types of energy storage technologies to meet the regulation needs of different durations of the power system.
Secondly, explore multi-scenario applications, multi-energy complementarity, and integrated development of source, grid, load and storage. Photovoltaic is easy to integrate with other industries. China has explored application forms such as building photovoltaics, agricultural photovoltaics, fishery photovoltaics, forest-light complementarity, and highway + photovoltaics. In the future, it will continue to be an important way for other industries to transform into green and low-carbon industries and achieve comprehensive benefits. Multi-energy complementarity helps solve the problem of evening peak supply. Photovoltaic power generation and wind power are complementary and can be further combined with energy storage, hydrogen energy, etc.
Finally, continue to promote the advancement of photovoltaic power generation technology. Further improve the efficiency of photovoltaic power generation technology. Promote the adaptability of photovoltaic power generation technology and reduce the land demand for photovoltaic projects. Carry out site integration, and improve the flexibility of land demand for new energy project development through abandoned mining areas, integration with buildings, and decentralized development. Improve the technical performance of new energy equipment connected to the grid and operate stably in a system dominated by wind, light and storage.
