UHV is the key to building energy internet

China Energy Storage Network News: ——Interview with Sun Jiye, deputy to the National People's Congress and vice chairman of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

Hou Ting Xu Ning

Reporter: What do you think about the role of energy Internet in promoting structural reform on the energy supply side and improving energy demand side management?

Sun Jiye: The 13th Five-Year Plan is a critical period for my country's energy transformation and structural adjustment. It is necessary to significantly increase the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption and establish a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient modern energy system. Energy Internet is a strong smart grid based on the intelligentization of power grids, with ultra-high voltage power grids as the backbone grid and the transmission of clean energy as the main focus. It plays a key role in promoting energy transformation and optimizing allocation.

On the energy supply side, by building a large power grid and a large market, optimizing the allocation of resources across the country, we can effectively promote the development and utilization of clean energy. my country's energy resources are distributed inversely with productivity. More than 80% of coal, hydropower, wind power and solar energy resources are distributed in the western and northern regions. It is estimated that by 2030, the proportion of clean energy installed capacity in the country will increase to more than 55%, and new installed capacity will be mainly concentrated in this region. More than 70% of energy and electricity consumption demand is concentrated in the eastern and central regions, and the energy base is 1,000 to 4,000 kilometers away from the load center. my country has huge potential for economic development, and electricity demand will grow rigidly. Environmental pollution in some areas of the eastern and central regions is seriously exceeded, and coal-fired power must be strictly controlled. To achieve a balance between electricity supply and demand in 2020, it is necessary to accept 220 million kilowatts of electricity from outside the region, and it is urgent to significantly increase the cross-regional transmission capacity of the power grid.

On the energy demand side, relying on a strong and smart grid, we will promote the use of electricity to replace coal and oil, achieve the goal of replacing 450 billion kWh of electricity by 2020, increase the proportion of electricity in terminal energy consumption to more than 27%, and fundamentally solve the problems of fossil energy pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Accelerating the development of an energy internet with UHV as the backbone grid is the best technical solution for transforming the energy development model, ensuring the security of energy and power supply, implementing the "two substitutions", building ecological civilization, and serving economic and social development, and it has a strong practical effect.

Reporter: Against the backdrop of “deleting overcapacity”, what is the significance of implementing UHV into Shandong for ensuring Shandong’s energy security and improving the ecological environment?

Sun Jiye: As an important economic and cultural province in my country, Shandong is still facing some deep-seated contradictions and problems in its energy development. First, ecological and environmental constraints are prominent, coal resources are becoming increasingly depleted, the province's major pollutant emissions are still relatively high, and smog weather occurs frequently. Second, the structural contradictions dominated by coal are still prominent, coal consumption accounts for 80% of total energy consumption, and the proportion of clean energy consumption is generally low. Third, the development space of coal-fired power in the province is limited. The state has clearly proposed that the national coal-fired power installed capacity will be controlled within 1.1 billion kilowatts in 2020. Shandong cannot meet the electricity demand for economic and social development by relying solely on coal-fired power in the province.

The 13th Five-Year Plan is a critical period for Shandong to build a strong economic and cultural province and take the lead in the process of building a well-off society in an all-round way. The energy and electricity demand in the province will grow steadily. It is necessary to accelerate the transformation of traditional energy production and consumption patterns, increase the scale of clean energy utilization, increase the proportion of electricity in terminal energy consumption, ensure energy supply security, and promote ecological environment optimization. By 2020, it is estimated that the total social electricity load in the province will reach about 110 million kilowatts; according to the Shandong Provincial Air Pollution Prevention and Control Plan and the Medium- and Long-Term Energy Development Plan, by 2020, the province's ambient air quality will be improved by about 50% compared with 2010, and the total emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides will be reduced by 27% based on 2015. Accelerating the construction of Shandong's "strong cross-connection and strong direct" ultra-high voltage backbone grid is the most reliable, direct and effective way to improve the ability to accept electricity from outside the province and the safe carrying capacity, serve the development of clean energy in the province, ensure the safe and reliable supply of energy and electricity in our province, meet the needs of economic and social development, optimize Shandong's ecological environment, and reduce coal consumption and pollutant emissions in the province.

Reporter: Do you think the current technical conditions for building China's energy internet are mature? What role does UHV play in this process?

Sun Jiye: The Party and the State pay great attention to the development of UHV power grids. General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the United Nations Development Summit, proposing to explore the construction of a global energy internet and promote the use of clean and green methods to meet global electricity demand. Premier Li Keqiang witnessed the signing of the China-Kazakhstan power grid interconnection strategic cooperation agreement. State Grid Corporation of China initiated the establishment of the Global Energy Internet Development Cooperation Organization, and initially formed an energy discourse system and high-end cooperation platform led by my country. Building an energy internet and accelerating the interconnection of power grids have received widespread attention and recognition. In terms of technology, key technologies such as UHV and smart grids are becoming increasingly mature. UHV is currently the most advanced transmission technology in the world and is the core and key to building an energy internet. In recent years, my country's UHV transmission technology has made major breakthroughs, and has fully mastered the core technology and key equipment manufacturing capabilities of UHV AC and DC transmission, and has accumulated rich experience. At present, State Grid Corporation of China has built the "five AC and six DC" UHV AC and DC projects, and has maintained safe and stable operation, becoming a major channel for my country's "west-to-east power transmission" and "north-to-south power transmission", with a total power transmission of 615 billion kWh. UHV standards have become international standards, achieving "Created in China" and "Leading by China", occupying the commanding heights of world power grid technology, and achieving the "going global" of UHV technology. The conditions are in place to accelerate the construction of UHV power grids and realize power grid interconnection.

Reporter: Shandong Power Grid has entered the UHV era. What are the results of the projects that have been completed and put into operation? What is the direction of future development?

Sun Jiye: In 2016, the first UHV AC project of "external power into Shandong" - the 1000 kV Ximeng-Shandong UHV AC project was successfully put into operation. Shandong power grid entered the UHV era, and the capacity to accept external power increased to 9.5 million kilowatts, accounting for 13.6% of the maximum load of the power grid in 2016, playing an important role in ensuring the power supply of the province during the peak summer period. By the end of 2016, the province had received a total of 325.5 billion kilowatt-hours of external power, reducing the consumption of standard coal by 100 million tons, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 320 million tons and sulfur dioxide by 270,000 tons. It can be said that the construction of the UHV project has achieved the expected results and has taken a solid step towards the energy transformation and upgrading and structural adjustment of the province.

The 13th Five-Year Plan is a critical period for Shandong to build a UHV backbone grid. According to the plan, six UHV lines will be built to transmit electricity to Shandong. By 2020, Shandong Power Grid will build a "strong exchange and strong direct" UHV grid, interconnected with six provinces (cities) in China, significantly improve the safe bearing and stable operation capabilities, and accept external power capacity of more than 35 million kilowatts, which is nearly five times that of the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan. At the same time, it can absorb 22 million kilowatts of clean electricity such as nuclear power, wind power, and photovoltaic power generation in the province, reduce the consumption of standard coal in the province by 14.7 million tons each year, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 47 million tons and sulfur dioxide by 40,000 tons. In the future, by building interconnected transmission lines with the international community, foreign clean energy can be transported to Shandong, providing strong power guarantee for the comprehensive construction of a well-off society.