China Wind Transmission Planning

Case Summary: 

Traditional transmission-planning approaches often account inadequately for areas that are high in renewable energy resources but far from population centers. However, China is taking a proactive approach to planning for renewable energy generation and transmission. As part of its process for planning the development of eight high-capacity wind development regions or “bases” throughout its provinces, China is also assessing the transmission needed to transmit wind-generated power to distant load centers. China’s wind development activities align with its broader goal of achieving 250 GW of wind power by 2020. In addition, renewable energy development is a major action within China’s INDC, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 64%–70% below 2005 levels by 2030. Key actions and good practices that can support wind power development are highlighted below and included in the case study.

  • Coordination of wind energy development with future transmission planning can enable higher penetrations of renewable energy in the grid.
  • Development of renewable energy bases or zones can support transmission extension to areas farther from the grid with high renewable energy resource availability.
  • Development of renewable energy bases and coordination with transmission planning can also send a clear signal to renewable energy project developers to enable investment.

Country 
China
Region 
East Asia and Pacific
Action Area 
Mitigation
Planning and Implementation Activity 
Developing and Implementing Policies and Measures, Financing Implementation
Source 
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Language 
English
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