China’s power crunches may worsen further

Bloomberg

China needs to accelerate its build-out of energy sources such as nuclear and pumped-hydro to stave off worsening power crunches in its industrial centres, according to a government-backed think tank.
Some of the big cities that have recently suffered power outages when summer demand for air-conditioning peaks are likely to see widening shortfalls in energy supply, according to the China Electric Power Planning and Engineering Institute, in a report covering China’s energy needs through 2025.
China’s main energy source, coal, will very gradually be phased out even as electricity demand increases as the economy grows. Nuclear and pumped-hydro are particularly useful as back-ups to the intermittent power generated by other clean energy sources like wind and solar.
Pumped-hydro is one of the oldest forms of storing energy. During times of excess power, pumps are used to push water up an incline. When more energy is needed, gravity pulls the water back through a turbine that generates electricity.
The institute attributed the intensifying shortages of power during periods of peak demand to China’s failure to meet targets for new plants.
By 2020, it had built only about three-quarters of the capacity planned for both nuclear and gas, which is cleaner than coal but still emits carbon.