China's power companies with an installed capacity of over 5 GW
(gigawatts) will have to ensure 5 percent of their electricity
generators are fuelled by renewable energy sources by 2010.
"And the proportion will increase to 10 percent by 2020," said
Zhang Guobao, vice-minister of the country's top economic policy
planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
He was speaking yesterday at a press briefing in Beijing.
Renewable energy sources include non-fossil fuels such as wind
and solar power. However, hydro and nuclear sources will not be on
the list of sources that the power companies must develop, Zhang
said.
The vice-minister said it is international practice to set a
certain quota for big power producers to develop renewable
energy-driven electricity, a move to maintain the sustainability of
the energy sector as well as improve efficiency.
"Although the proposed percentage (for renewable energy-fuelled
electricity) might not sound like a big number, it will mean a
substantial increase for China as it will boost the use of these
new energies," Zhang said.
Industry analysts said China has around 15 power companies that
boast an installed capacity of more than 5 GW, accounting for more
than half of the country's total capacity.
By the end of last year, the total installed capacity of the
nation's electricity generating plants reached 508 GW, an increase
of 14.9 percent from 2004, according to sources from the China
Electricity Council, an industry association for power
producers.
The figure is expected to exceed 1,000 GW within 15 years, in
order to keep the fast-growing economy on track, industry analysts
have said.
In a move to secure energy security by diversifying sources and
clean up the environment, the Chinese Government has vowed to use
renewable energy to supply 15 percent of the nation's electricity
needs by 2020, compared with the current level of 7 percent.
At the start of this year the country put into effect its first
renewable energy law, to try to reach the ambitious aim of using
new energy sources.
To supplement the new law, Zhang said yesterday, as many as 12
supporting regulations have already been put in place. These
include higher electricity tariffs for grid firms which buy from
producers using renewable energy-fuelled power generators. Other
regulations include tax reductions on equipment procurement and
plant construction, as well as government subsidies for related
business developers.
The country's top power companies, including Huaneng, Datang and
China Power Investment, have already included renewable energy
development in their long-term corporate business growth
strategy.
"It will be a new business attraction, with huge market
potential and lucrative returns," Zhang said.
Datang International Power Generation Co Ltd, which now relies
on coal for more than 99 percent of its electricity generation,
plans to cut that percentage to 75 percent by the year 2014, the
company said.
"We are looking at a slew of wind farm projects across the
nation," said Zhang Shaopeng, a Datang spokesman. By the end of
June last year, Datang recorded an installed capacity of 11 GW.
The country's biggest power producer, China Huaneng Group, which
had power generators with a capacity of 34 GW by the end of 2004,
now only has 140 MW (megawatts) generated by wind.
The firm hopes to greatly increase that figure within the next
decade, said official Li Zhaokui.
(China Daily January 13, 2006)