Industry News

2022-03-18

National Average Wind Power Utilization Rate Reaches 96.9%! Evaluation and Analysis of National New Energy Power Consumption in the Fourth Quarter of 2021

In 2021, China’s newly installed wind and photovoltaic capacity reached 101 million kilowatts, with 47.57 million kilowatts added in wind power and 54.88 million kilowatts in photovoltaics, thereby achieving the year’s guaranteed capacity targets. By the end of 2021, cumulative installed capacities stood at 328 million and 306 million kilowatts, respectively. In the fourth quarter, new wind and photovoltaic installations totaled 31.21 million and 27.82 million kilowatts, respectively; however, due to factors such as the phase-out of subsidies, the concentration of new grid connections declined somewhat during this period. In 2021, wind and photovoltaic power generation accounted for over 10% of total electricity consumption for the first time, reaching 11.7%. Throughout the year, cumulative wind and photovoltaic generation nationwide reached 978.5 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 35.0%. By the end of 2021, cumulative offshore wind capacity had reached 26.38 million kilowatts, placing China firmly in first place worldwide; distributed photovoltaic capacity accounted for 55% of total new photovoltaic installations for the year, surpassing 50% for the first time in history. In the fourth quarter, new offshore wind capacity added nationwide amounted to 13.2 million kilowatts, up 600.9% year on year; distributed photovoltaic capacity increased by 12.98 million kilowatts, a year-on-year rise of 83.8%. The spatial distribution of wind and photovoltaic development continued to improve, with the central-eastern and southern regions accounting for 61.0% of all new wind capacity added in the quarter—up 22.9 percentage points from the same period last year. Quarterly Assessment of Consumption and Utilization Throughout the year, wind and solar utilization rates reached 100% in 11 provinces and municipalities across the country. The national average wind power utilization rate was 96.9%, up 0.4 percentage points year on year; photovoltaic utilization stood at 98.2%, an improvement of 1.0 percentage point. In the fourth quarter, wind power utilization rose to 96.9%, a year-on-year increase of 0.9 percentage points, while photovoltaic utilization climbed to 97.8%, up 0.8 percentage points. During the quarter, 5.9 billion kilowatt-hours of wind power were curtailed, along with 1.75 billion kilowatt-hours of photovoltaic power; for the full year, curtailment totaled 20.61 billion kilowatt-hours of wind power and 6.78 billion kilowatt-hours of photovoltaic power. In 2021, total national electricity consumption reached 8.3 trillion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%. The rapid growth in overall electricity demand created favorable conditions for the integration of new energy sources. Significant projects aimed at promoting clean energy consumption made further progress: the Fengning Pumped Storage Power Station, with a capacity of 3.6 million kilowatts—the largest of its kind in the world—began commercial operation; meanwhile, the world’s largest distributed static VAR compensator cluster for new energy was officially commissioned in the Hainan region of Qinghai Province. In 2021, new energy utilization rates in Hunan, Xinjiang, and Gansu improved by 3.5, 2.7, and 1.9 percentage points, respectively, while those in Qinghai and western Mongolia declined by 5.7 and 1.5 percentage points, respectively. In the fourth quarter, new energy utilization markedly improved in Shaanxi, Shandong, Xinjiang, and Shanxi, whereas it decreased in western Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Henan, and Liaoning. Assessment of Consumption Trends in the First Quarter and for the Full Year Driven by the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals as well as the rural revitalization strategy, it is expected that new grid connections for photovoltaic and wind power will continue to grow at a moderate pace in the first quarter. During the first quarter, wind conditions across the country varied considerably, with average wind speeds increasing month by month and total horizontal irradiance rising in most regions. Large-scale wind and photovoltaic base projects focused on desert, gobi, and arid areas are scheduled to come online and begin operations throughout 2022, leading to greater concentration of new energy projects and heightened pressure on power absorption in parts of western and northern China. Key transmission projects are being commissioned one after another, further enhancing the capacity of existing transmission lines and improving inter-provincial and inter-regional power allocation capabilities. National strategies such as “East Data, West Computing” are spurring rapid growth in total electricity consumption in western regions, thereby significantly boosting local new energy integration. Flexibility upgrades for coal-fired power plants are progressing steadily, and energy storage will play an increasingly important role in ensuring the effective integration of new energy sources. 1. Development and Operation in the Current Quarter 1.1 Wind power capacity expansion has accelerated, with cumulative offshore wind capacity now ranking first globally. In the fourth quarter, 31.21 million kilowatts of new wind capacity were connected to the grid nationwide; for the full year, the figure reached 47.57 million kilowatts. Due to the high base in the same period last year and the elimination of onshore wind subsidies, new wind capacity additions in the quarter fell by 44.8% year on year. Provinces and regions with the largest additions included Jiangsu (5.02 million kilowatts), Guangdong (4.69 million kilowatts), and Henan (3.22 million kilowatts). As of the end of December, cumulative grid-connected wind capacity nationwide stood at 328 million kilowatts, up 17.3% year on year. In the fourth quarter, 13.2 million kilowatts of new offshore wind capacity were connected, a year-on-year increase of 600.9%. By the end of December, cumulative offshore wind capacity had reached 26.39 million kilowatts, up 193.6% year on year. Offshore wind now accounts for 8% of total wind capacity, an increase of 4.8 percentage points compared with the same period last year. Cumulative wind capacity by region as of the end of 2021 (in ten thousand kilowatts) and its share of each region’s total installed capacity 1.2 Wind power development continues to shift toward the central-eastern and southern regions, where conditions for power absorption are better. In the fourth quarter, the central-eastern and southern regions saw 19.04 million kilowatts of new wind capacity connected to the grid, a year-on-year increase of 222.5%; this accounted for 61% of the nation’s total new wind capacity, up 22.9 percentage points from the previous year. As of the end of December, cumulative wind capacity in these regions reached 120 million kilowatts, representing 36.5% of the national total—a 3.9 percentage point increase year on year. New (left) and cumulative (right) grid-connected wind capacity by region in the fourth quarter (in ten thousand kilowatts) 1.3 Photovoltaic capacity additions surged in the fourth quarter. Nationwide, 27.82 million kilowatts of new photovoltaic capacity were connected to the grid, a 157.8% increase from the previous quarter; for the full year, new photovoltaic capacity totaled 54.88 million kilowatts. However, due to the high base in the same period last year and the short-term rise in photovoltaic raw material costs, new additions fell by 7.6% year on year. Provinces with the largest increases included Shandong (4.75 million kilowatts), Hebei (3.63 million kilowatts), and Anhui (1.96 million kilowatts). As of the end of December, cumulative grid-connected photovoltaic capacity nationwide stood at 306 million kilowatts, up 20.9% year on year. Cumulative photovoltaic capacity by region as of the end of 2021 (in ten thousand kilowatts) and its share of each region’s total installed capacity 1.4 Distributed photovoltaic capacity additions surpassed 50% for the first time. In the fourth quarter, 12.98 million kilowatts of new distributed photovoltaic capacity were added, a year-on-year increase of 83.8%. In 2021, distributed photovoltaic additions accounted for 55% of all new photovoltaic capacity, exceeding 50% for the first time in history. Driven by county-wide distributed photovoltaic development and household photovoltaic subsidies, the cumulative installed capacity of new household photovoltaic projects reached 21.6 million kilowatts for the year, up about 113.8% from the previous year; by the end of 2021, total household photovoltaic capacity had reached 41.6 million kilowatts, while total distributed photovoltaic capacity nationwide stood at 107.51 million kilowatts. New (left) and cumulative (right) grid-connected photovoltaic capacity by region in the fourth quarter (in ten thousand kilowatts) 1.5 Wind and photovoltaic power generation shares exceeded 10% for the first time. In the fourth quarter, national wind power generation reached 183.18 billion kilowatt-hours, up 60.4% year on year; photovoltaic generation totaled 76.46 billion kilowatt-hours, up 27.6% year on year. For the full year, cumulative wind and photovoltaic generation reached 978.5 billion kilowatt-hours, a 35% year-on-year increase, accounting for 11.7% of total generation—an increase of 2 percentage points. Thanks to the concentrated grid connection of wind and photovoltaic power at the end of 2020, wind and photovoltaic generation surged in 2021, leading to a significant rise in their share of total generation.

2022-03-18

The first pile of the main pier for the world’s largest-span girder–truss composite cable-stayed bridge has been successfully poured.