4 The Transition of China’s Power System
101
4.1.1.1 New Trends of Power Development Triggered by Global Energy
Transition
The energy systems of major countries are transitioning toward clean, low-carbon
and intelligent solutions to combat climate change and environmental pollution. The
target to build a renewable power-based energy supply infrastructure that progressively evolves toward an energy internet that integrates exploitation, transmission,
distribution and consumption of power has become a global consensus. It is expected
that in the future, with continued innovations in power generation, grid system, load
and energy storage, and advances in ICT, the structural pattern of the power system
will undergo drastic changes.
A number of countries have rolled out plans for technological development in
the energy sector in recent years, including the Comprehensive Energy Strategy of
the US, the EU’s Energy Roadmap 2050, the National Energy and Environment
Strategy for Technological Innovation Towards 2050 by Japan, South Korea’s Clean
Energy Technology Roadmap and China’s Energy Innovation Action Plan (2016–
2030), Energy Technology Revolution Key Innovation Action Roadmap and the 13th
Five-year Plan on Scientific and Technological Innovation. Technological innovation
for the utilization of clean and low-carbon energy resources has become the “holy
grail” of energy development in all countries, who have devised plans to underscore
the centrality of renewables in energy supply of the future (Lu et al. 2017).
The international energy landscape has been dramatically adjusted. The fast-track
development of unconventional oil and gas, spearheaded by the shale gas revolution in
the US, had reshaped the traditional energy supply chain. The increasing maturity of
renewable energy technologies has ushered in, quietly and assuredly, the era of energy
transition and heralds a paradigm shift in the energy system. What’s more, a new wave
of Industrial Revolution, driven by big data, artificial intelligence and the Internet
of Things, will propel the deep integration of the energy industry and the Internet.
On the whole, four trends—decarbonization, electrification, decentralization and
digitalization—are steering the transformation of energy and power sectors.
4.1.1.2 Transition of Domestic Power Sector in the Era of the Energy
Revolution
At the historic intersection of the Energy Revolution and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, China remains firmly committed to the notion of green, low-carbon, clean and
efficient sustainable energy development, and has actively enforced and revised its
medium- and long-term energy technology strategies to cater to the evolving needs
of ecological sustainability and national energy security.
The Strategy of Energy Production and Consumption Revolution (2016–2030)
(hereinafter referred to as the Strategy), issued by the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) on
December 29, 2016, set out the medium- and long-term strategic goals of China’s
101
4.1.1.1 New Trends of Power Development Triggered by Global Energy
Transition
The energy systems of major countries are transitioning toward clean, low-carbon
and intelligent solutions to combat climate change and environmental pollution. The
target to build a renewable power-based energy supply infrastructure that progressively evolves toward an energy internet that integrates exploitation, transmission,
distribution and consumption of power has become a global consensus. It is expected
that in the future, with continued innovations in power generation, grid system, load
and energy storage, and advances in ICT, the structural pattern of the power system
will undergo drastic changes.
A number of countries have rolled out plans for technological development in
the energy sector in recent years, including the Comprehensive Energy Strategy of
the US, the EU’s Energy Roadmap 2050, the National Energy and Environment
Strategy for Technological Innovation Towards 2050 by Japan, South Korea’s Clean
Energy Technology Roadmap and China’s Energy Innovation Action Plan (2016–
2030), Energy Technology Revolution Key Innovation Action Roadmap and the 13th
Five-year Plan on Scientific and Technological Innovation. Technological innovation
for the utilization of clean and low-carbon energy resources has become the “holy
grail” of energy development in all countries, who have devised plans to underscore
the centrality of renewables in energy supply of the future (Lu et al. 2017).
The international energy landscape has been dramatically adjusted. The fast-track
development of unconventional oil and gas, spearheaded by the shale gas revolution in
the US, had reshaped the traditional energy supply chain. The increasing maturity of
renewable energy technologies has ushered in, quietly and assuredly, the era of energy
transition and heralds a paradigm shift in the energy system. What’s more, a new wave
of Industrial Revolution, driven by big data, artificial intelligence and the Internet
of Things, will propel the deep integration of the energy industry and the Internet.
On the whole, four trends—decarbonization, electrification, decentralization and
digitalization—are steering the transformation of energy and power sectors.
4.1.1.2 Transition of Domestic Power Sector in the Era of the Energy
Revolution
At the historic intersection of the Energy Revolution and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, China remains firmly committed to the notion of green, low-carbon, clean and
efficient sustainable energy development, and has actively enforced and revised its
medium- and long-term energy technology strategies to cater to the evolving needs
of ecological sustainability and national energy security.
The Strategy of Energy Production and Consumption Revolution (2016–2030)
(hereinafter referred to as the Strategy), issued by the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) on
December 29, 2016, set out the medium- and long-term strategic goals of China’s