On May 23, the National Energy Administration released statistical data for the national power industry from January to April. From January to April 2024, new installations of wind power and photovoltaic (PV) were 16.84GW and 60.11GW respectively. Among them, photovoltaic increased by 24% year-on-year. Based on the previously released data from January to March, it can be calculated that in April, new photovoltaic installations were 14.37GW, a decrease of 1.9% year-on-year, and an increase of 59% month-on-month. As of the end of April, the total installed capacity of power generation in the country was approximately 301 GW, a year-on-year increase of 14.1%. Among them, the installed capacity of solar power generation was about 67 GW, a year-on-year increase of 52.4%; the installed capacity of wind power was about 46 GW, a year-on-year increase of 20.6%.
From January to April, the cumulative average utilization of power generation equipment in the country was 1097 hours, 49 hours less than the same period last year. Among them, wind power was 789 hours, 77 hours less than the same period last year; solar power generation was 373 hours, 42 hours less than the same period last year; nuclear power was 2471 hours, 1 hour less than the same period last year; hydropower was 785 hours, 48 hours more than the same period last year; thermal power was 1448 hours, 23 hours more than the same period last year. From January to April, the main power generation companies completed an investment of 191.2 billion yuan in power source projects, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%. The grid project completed an investment of 122.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.9%."
National Energy Administration: Fully Committed to the Construction of Three Batches of Large Wind and Photovoltaic Bases
Recently, the National Energy Administration held a national video conference on the development and construction of renewable energy. Wan Jinsong, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the National Energy Administration, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. The meeting summarized the development of renewable energy in the first quarter of 2024, listened to the opinions and suggestions proposed at the January situation analysis meeting, the progress of major renewable energy project construction, the 2024 wind and photovoltaic power generation commissioning plan, and the supply and demand development of the wind and photovoltaic power generation industry chain. It analyzed the current situation and tasks facing the development of renewable energy, studied existing problems and related measures, and proposed requirements for the next steps.
The meeting noted that the development of renewable energy has had a good momentum in the first quarter of this year, with a continuous expansion of installed capacity and steady growth in power generation. From January to March, the country's newly installed renewable energy capacity reached 63.76 million kilowatts, accounting for 91.8% of the total new power generation installations, a year-on-year increase of 34.5%; the national renewable energy power generation was 690.3 billion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 30.9% of the national power generation, a year-on-year increase of 16.1%. At the same time, some areas have seen a decline in the utilization rate of wind and photovoltaic power generation, insufficient coordination between energy sources and the grid, and unbalanced construction of large wind and photovoltaic base projects, which require high attention and accelerated research to resolve. The meeting required that, first, full efforts should be made to promote the construction of three batches of large wind and photovoltaic bases, continue monthly scheduling and weekly monitoring, and push for the rapid completion and scheduled commissioning of base projects. Second, active promotion of high-quality development of new energy is needed, fully leveraging the decisive role of the market in resource allocation. Local governments should strengthen industry guidance and orderly development of new energy projects; developers should compete orderly and develop projects strictly in accordance with laws and regulations; and power grid companies should increase construction investment, especially in the upgrade and transformation of distribution networks. Third, the market and policy environment for the development of new energy should be optimized, further improving system reforms and market construction policies, striving to introduce mature measures as soon as they are ready. Fourth, it is necessary to further liberate thoughts, change concepts, improve work style, deeply understand the significant meaning of vigorously developing new energy to help achieve dual carbon goals and ensure energy security, strengthen collaborative cooperation, fairly undertake the responsibility of energy transition, and jointly promote green and low-carbon development.
Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, relevant departments (bureaus) of the National Energy Administration, energy authorities from provinces (regions, cities), and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, 18 dispatched agencies of the National Energy Administration, relevant power grid companies, power generation companies, the Hydropower Planning and Design Institute, the Electric Power Planning & Engineering Institute, the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Wind Energy Committee of the China Renewable Energy Society, and the China Photovoltaic Industry Association participated in the meeting.