IEA officials suggest scaling up nuclear power
Source: 21st Century Business Herald. Date: 2015-11-25.
With the background of renewable energy development mechanism not completely rationalized, the only feasible way to develop clean energy is to expand the scale of nuclear power according to the plan. I hope that China can continue to expand nuclear power while ensuring safety. While expanding clean energy, it is also important to improve energy efficiency. Overall, the prospects for low-carbon programs are brighter than they were a few years ago.
The next day, the National Energy Administration held a forum on the preparation of the “13th Five-Year Plan” for energy planning in Beijing.
"During the" 13th Five-Year Plan "period, China needs good management and market policies to promote the development of low-carbon energy sources and ensure that China's energy system is more sustainable in the future. ) Told the 21st Century Business Herald that one of the most important policy tools is to ensure that renewable energy generation can give priority to thermal power on the grid.
Sadamori also pointed out that under the background that the renewable energy development mechanism has not been completely rationalized, the only feasible way to develop clean energy is to expand the scale of nuclear power according to the plan. "I hope China can continue to expand nuclear power while ensuring security," he said.
On the "13th Five-Year Plan" of China's energy transition and clean energy development, 21st Century Business Herald interviewed Sadamori.
China is expected to introduce more low-carbon energy in the future
21 "21st Century": How do you view the situation of China's "13th Five-Year Plan" energy transition?
Sadamori: The rapid development of China's economy mainly depends on high-carbon energy. Coal accounts for 2/3 of the primary energy consumption structure, which means that other energy sources account for a small proportion. However, there is some good news. The growth of China's high-carbon energy demand has slowed, which may be due to related policies and measures, or it may be due to the slowdown in the development of heavy industry sectors such as steel and cement.
In fact, China is already a leader in low-carbon energy technology. The first is renewable energy. China is currently the largest country using renewable resources, including hydro, wind and solar. According to the IEA's medium term renewable market report published at the beginning of September, from now until 2020, we expect that the global renewable energy installed capacity will reach 700GW, which is a grand goal, of which 40% will come from China.
At the same time, we are discussing the issue of nuclear power. After the Fukushima nuclear power plant leak accident in Japan, Japan has fallen into a serious crisis in restarting nuclear power plants. In this case, China is actually the only country that develops nuclear power on a large scale, which is also a good measure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The above two trends indicate that China has improved, and it is expected that China will introduce more low-carbon energy in the future.
China's low-carbon energy development requires policy and economic stimulus
"21st Century": The current decline in China's electricity demand has resulted in excess capacity and cheap thermal power. Is this bad for the development of new energy?
Sadamori: Electricity surplus is common in advanced economies, and Australia, for example, has faced similar problems. China's economic development has slowed down, and power demand has grown slowly, but in the long run, there is still much room for development in the Chinese economy, which means that demand for electricity will continue to increase, so this is relatively better for China than developed economies local.
At present, I have heard a lot of discussions about how to use renewable energy to generate electricity when thermal power is not fully utilized. Although the number of hours of thermal power generation is declining, the national policy system should guarantee the number of hours of renewable energy generation. The most representative example, such as the market rules for priority generation dispatch, the Chinese government's policy is to shift the priority from thermal power to renewable energy. This is a good policy to promote renewable energy, although it means the days of thermal power plants. Will be more sad.
In the long run, we also need some economic means to stimulate the development of low-carbon energy. The most representative tool is carbon prices. China has piloted carbon trading in several cities. If carbon pricing is really effective, it must be fully implemented and become a national policy, which will lay the price advantage of renewable energy. Therefore, I believe that good management and market policies are needed to promote the development of low-carbon energy, so that China's energy system can be more sustainable in the future.
"21st Century": China has launched a carbon trading pilot. Do we still need to formulate a carbon tax policy?
Sadamori: I know that many countries are still looking for a suitable way at this stage. Is it a tax or a transaction? The problem with carbon trading is that carbon prices are not guaranteed and carbon prices in Europe are very low. If you want to fix the price of carbon, a carbon tax may be more popular. Carbon trading is simple, but finding a suitable tax policy so that the right amount of carbon is traded after the carbon tax is levied is very challenging. Levying carbon taxes will also encounter another difficulty, because after all, it is a tax, and there will always be some difficulties in introducing new taxes into economic activities. Therefore, I think the overall situation depends on the circumstances, so it makes sense for China to pilot carbon trading in several cities first.
How to solve the "abandon wind and light" problem?
"21st Century": In the past few years, "abandoning wind and wind" was more serious. In the past two years, "abandoning wind and light" was more serious. What suggestions do you have for "13th Five-Year Plan" to resolve "abandoning wind and light"?
Sadamori: China has a large amount of wind energy reserves, and a large part is not connected to the Internet, so it is actually wasted, so we call it curtailment. The European power market has more experience in integrating wind power into the power system and provides good inspiration for China.
First of all, it is necessary to ensure that renewable energy such as wind power generates electricity online preferentially than thermal power. For this reason, it is not easy for power market managers to have a strong confidence to maintain the stability of the entire power system when wind power is introduced. Europe has adopted a number of measures, such as more advanced weather forecasting systems to forecast wind production on certain days. To ensure that on the supply side of the power system, there is a flexible gas turbine supply or other dispatchable alternative generation energy sources. In Europe, sometimes the wind suddenly drops, and gas turbines must be operated at maximum speed immediately to make up for the lack of wind power. The key is that the grid system must have strong confidence to maintain stability by ensuring flexible switching of power supply sources. For power production, pumped storage power stations can also be used to balance the power grid. The balance of the power system is the key to ensuring the introduction of more renewable energy. In addition, demand response for power consumption (demand response) is also an option.
Proposal to expand nuclear power
"21st Century": In the situation that the development mechanism of new energy has not been completely rationalized, what suggestions do you have for China's "13th Five-Year" low-carbon energy development?
Sadamori: It is difficult for countries around the world to comply with their carbon reduction plans. Although most countries have submitted INDCs, many countries have failed to meet their targets. Therefore, the core of carbon reduction plans is to make a country's carbon emissions reach Peak. However, I think China's situation in carbon emissions and development towards a low-carbon society is more positive and optimistic. China should further accelerate low-carbon development. According to China's "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" recommendations, China will use more renewable energy and is committed to improving energy efficiency.
Under the background that the renewable energy development mechanism is not completely rationalized, the only feasible way to develop clean energy is to expand the scale of nuclear power according to the plan. I hope that China can continue to expand nuclear power while ensuring safety. While expanding clean energy, it is also important to improve energy efficiency. Overall, the prospects for low-carbon programs are brighter than they were a few years ago.