486 million, with a year-on-year increase of 13 times in the number of green certificates issued; Over 44 million kilowatts, the installed capacity of new energy storage has increased by more than 40% compared to the end of last year; Over 1.2 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 17.7% in investment in key energy projects completed
Recently, the National Energy Administration released the "report card" of energy development in the first half of the year, showing the actual results of accelerating the planning and construction of a new energy system through various data sets. What is the progress of the relevant work during the critical period of ensuring power supply during the peak summer season? What are the characteristics of energy investment and construction? The reporter interviewed the relevant person in charge of the National Energy Administration.
The national unified survey shows that the coal storage in power plants exceeds 200 million tons, and the power supply guarantee is strong and effective
In the first half of this year, China's energy consumption continued to grow, supply capacity steadily improved, and energy supply and demand were balanced, "said Dong Wancheng, Deputy Director of the Development Planning Department of the National Energy Administration.
Looking at consumption, the total electricity consumption in society is about 4.7 trillion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%. Industry is the main driver of energy consumption growth, contributing over 57% to the overall increase in electricity consumption in society.
Looking at the supply, the daily average coal production remains above 12 million tons, crude oil production increased by 1.9% year-on-year, and natural gas production increased by 6% year-on-year. New progress has been made in the green and low-carbon transformation. Pan Huimin, Deputy Director of the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Administration, introduced that the newly installed capacity of renewable energy power generation in China reached 134 million kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 24%, accounting for 88% of the country's newly installed power capacity; The renewable energy generation reached 1.56 trillion kilowatt hours, an increase of 22% year-on-year. As of the end of June, the total installed capacity of wind and photovoltaic power generation has exceeded that of coal-fired power generation.
Since the beginning of summer, there have been persistent high temperatures in many places, and the maximum power load has rapidly increased. China is accelerating the construction of supportive regulatory power sources, with coal reserves in power plants exceeding 200 million tons and port inventories at historical highs. The ability to provide backup support for coal and coal-fired power has been further enhanced. Meanwhile, the transmission capacity of cross provincial and cross regional channels continues to improve. In the first half of the year, the country completed cross regional transmission of 390.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%. In the second quarter, there was a significant improvement in water supply, with a significant increase in hydropower generation in the southwest region. The growth rate of electricity transmission from the southwest increased from a year-on-year decrease of 16.1% in the first quarter to a year-on-year increase of 72.8% in the second quarter. The installed capacity of new energy storage continues to grow rapidly, improving power regulation capabilities and further consolidating the foundation for ensuring energy supply during peak summer seasons.
During the peak summer season, the national power supply guarantee was strong and effective, and no orderly electricity measures were taken in various regions, "said Zhang Xing, Deputy Director and spokesperson of the Comprehensive Department of the National Energy Administration. In the next step, we will continue to strengthen energy and power monitoring and early warning, give full play to the peak capacity of the system during peak hours, promote the accelerated construction and operation of supporting power sources, guide localities to make practical and detailed work plans, and make every effort to ensure the safe and stable supply of electricity during the peak summer season.
The scale of new energy storage installations is steadily increasing, and the green certificate trading market is becoming more active
New energy storage is a key technology supporting the construction of new energy systems and new power systems. Bian Guangqi, Deputy Director of the Energy Conservation and Technology Equipment Department of the National Energy Administration, introduced that the scale of new energy storage installations in China is steadily increasing. As of the first half of the year, the cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage projects that have been completed and put into operation has exceeded 44 million kilowatts, an increase of over 40% compared to the end of 2023. From a regional distribution perspective, the proportion of newly installed energy storage capacity that has been put into operation in the northwest and north China regions exceeds 50% of the national total. From a technical perspective, multiple compressed air energy storage, flow battery energy storage, and sodium ion battery energy storage projects have been put into operation, promoting diversified technological development.
At the same time, the application of new energy storage scheduling is constantly increasing, and its regulatory role is gradually emerging. The equivalent utilization hours of new energy storage in the operating area of State Grid Corporation of China reached 390 hours and the equivalent charging and discharging times were about 93 times in the first half of the year, an increase of about 100% and 86% year-on-year, respectively. In the first half of the year, the equivalent utilization hours of new energy storage in the operating area of China Southern Power Grid Corporation reached 560 hours, which is close to the full year utilization level of 2023.
The renewable energy green power certificate is the only proof of the environmental attributes of renewable energy in China, with one green certificate unit corresponding to 1000 kilowatt hours of renewable energy electricity. The implementation of the green certificate system is a powerful tool to promote the development and utilization of renewable energy.
Chen Jing, Deputy Director of the Power Business Qualification Management Center of the National Energy Administration, introduced that since the implementation of the green certificate system in 2017, a total of about 707 million green certificates have been issued. The green certificate trading market has become more active. In the first half of the year, there were 39000 buyer enterprises and individual entities participating in the green certificate market transactions nationwide, a year-on-year increase of four times. There were 160 million green certificates traded (including 77.37 million green certificates traded with green electricity), a year-on-year increase of six times.
In June, the national green certificate issuance and trading system was officially launched and put into operation. The system connected to the renewable energy filing and card information platform, collecting all electricity data from various power grid enterprises and power trading institutions. The green certificate review and issuance time was shortened by 85%, improving the efficiency of green certificate issuance, "said Chen Jing.
Energy security investment continues to expand, with double-digit growth in solar power generation and onshore wind power investment
Exploration has discovered China's first ultra deep water and ultra shallow gas field, Lingshui 36-1. The construction of the ± 800 kV high-voltage direct current transmission project from Gansu to Zhejiang has started, and Xinjiang's first pumped storage power station has been put into operation for power generation... Since the beginning of this year, energy project construction has accelerated.
Dong Wancheng introduced that the investment amount of key energy projects completed in the first half of the year exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.7%. The investment in the eastern, central, and western regions increased by 26.8%, 20.8%, and 10.7% respectively year-on-year.
The investment in non fossil energy power generation is growing steadily. Investment in solar power generation and onshore wind power maintained double-digit growth, with a total investment of approximately 430 billion yuan completed in the first half of the year. The investment in distributed photovoltaics increased by 76.2% year-on-year in the first half of the year. The investment in nuclear power projects under construction has been steadily released, and new construction projects are gradually forming effective investments. The investment in pumped storage has accelerated, with a growth rate of 30.4 percentage points in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year.
Energy security investment continues to expand. Investment in power sources and power grids has maintained rapid growth, and a number of key projects supporting regulatory power sources and power grids have started construction comprehensively. The exploration and development investment of major onshore oil and gas fields such as Daqing, Shengli, Changqing, and Southwest has been steadily released, while the development of large-scale offshore oil and gas fields continues to form effective investment.
The investment in new energy formats is accelerating. New energy storage investment, charging and swapping infrastructure, and hydrogen energy investment maintained rapid growth, with a year-on-year increase of 13.9% in key projects of new energy formats in the first half of the year.
Security, stability, economic efficiency, and clean and low-carbon are the target directions for high-quality energy development. To achieve this goal, China still faces challenges such as huge energy demand pressure, many constraints on clean energy supply, and arduous low-carbon transformation tasks on the consumption side. Dong Wancheng stated that in the coming period, the focus will be on strengthening the overall planning of high-quality energy development, enhancing energy technology innovation, and deepening institutional and mechanism innovation, forming a greater synergy for building a new energy system.