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Bloomberg
The majority of China’s massive desert renewable power project will be built after 2025, and most of the capacity in the first phase will come from solar, according to a researcher from the country’s largest grid operator.
The details fill in some gaps about the country’s plans to build 455 gigawatts of wind and solar power across the country’s vast desert expanses, which were announced by President Xi Jinping in October. Researchers and officials spoke at an event in Beijing hosted by the China Electricity Council and solar manufacturing giant Longi Green Energy Technology Co.
About 200 gigawatts will be installed before 2025, with another 255 gigawatts coming between 2026 and 2030, according to Li Qionghui, a researcher with the State Grid Corp. of China. Of the pre-2025 projects, about 50 gigawatts will be fed into local grids while 150 will connect to long-distance transmission lines, she said. Post-2025, 90 gigawatts are expected to be local with 165 destined for far-away use.
A first batch of 97 gigawatts will connect to the grid through 2023 and will comprise of about 60% solar and 40% wind, Li said. The massive build-out will help increase clean energy generation that will eventually help the country meet its goals of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2060.
Including the desert projects, China will install 500 gigawatts of wind and solar between 2021 and 2025, and 700 gigawatts in the second half of the decade, said Shi Jingli, a researcher with the National Development and Reform Commission.