Building China's energy internet to promote clean energy development in Northwest China

Reporter: Gansu's new energy installed capacity is growing rapidly. What problems have been encountered during the development process?

Zhang Shizhen: Since the end of 2014, Gansu's wind power installed capacity has exceeded 10 million kilowatts, Gansu has basically built a 10 million kilowatt wind power base, and photovoltaic installed capacity has grown rapidly, ranking first in the country. Gansu has become the leader in the development of new energy in the country. However, Gansu, located in the northwest inland, has a small economic aggregate and a small overall electricity load. Compared with the huge installed power capacity, there is a huge gap, and the supply side is seriously oversupplied. Abandoning wind and solar power has almost become the norm, which has brought serious constraints to the development of new energy.

Reporter: What do you think is the fundamental way to solve the problem of new energy market absorption in Gansu?

Zhang Shizhen: "If you want to get rich, build roads first", and this "road" is the construction of China's energy Internet.

In September 2015, President Xi Jinping proposed at the United Nations Development Summit that China should explore the building of a global energy internet to promote the use of clean and green methods to meet global electricity demand.

China's energy internet is an important part of the global energy internet. The construction of China's energy internet will play a leading role in building the global energy internet. The key to building China's energy internet is to accelerate the construction of ultra-high voltage backbone grids, achieve coordinated development of power grids at all levels, and meet the needs of efficient use of clean energy.

At present, my country's onshore wind energy resources are concentrated in North China, Northeast China, and Northwest China, while solar energy resources are concentrated in Tibet, Northwest China, and Inner Mongolia. In the future, my country's energy development focus will further move westward and northward. The characteristics of my country's energy resource endowment determine that the pattern of sending electricity from west to east and from north to south will not change in the future, and the scale will be further expanded. In order to meet the needs of new energy consumption and large-scale cross-regional optimization of electricity allocation, it is urgent to re-plan the national power grid layout scientifically, strengthen the construction of cross-regional and cross-provincial interconnected power grids, and enhance the resource optimization capacity and safe carrying capacity of the power grid.

Reporter: What are Gansu’s practical advantages in developing China’s energy Internet?

Zhang Shizhen: Building a global energy Internet, promoting the construction of China's energy Internet western synchronous power grid, and promoting the efficient use of new energy are highly consistent with the strategy of building a major energy province proposed by the Gansu Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government. It is of great significance to improving the level of new energy resource utilization in Gansu, exerting environmental protection benefits, and promoting the economic and social development of Gansu.

First, it has obvious locational advantages and an important strategic position.

Second, new energy resources are abundant and have huge development potential.

Third, UHV transmission channels are under construction, and an AC/DC hybrid power grid is about to be formed.

Fourth, the foundation of new energy centralized control is solid, and the power grid has strong intelligent control capabilities.

Reporter: What suggestions do you have in the process of building China's energy Internet?

Zhang Shizhen: It is recommended to incorporate the construction of a global energy internet into the national strategy, organize and promote it at the national level, formulate an action plan, and use the construction of a global energy internet as the "Chinese solution" to address climate change, so as to form a powerful synergy to promote the development of a global energy internet.

At the same time, as an important support for the construction of the global energy Internet, it actively promotes the construction of China's energy Internet, builds a strong western synchronous power grid, realizes the close interconnection of the northwest and southwest power grids, forms a strong sending-end power grid, promotes the development of clean energy in the northwest region, and completely solves the problem of new energy consumption.