China's building of new energy system to bolster development of industries

The construction of a new power system in China, with an increase in the integration of renewable energy sources into the power grid, will accelerate the expansion of new industries including carbon management and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies, said a top company official.

The country's construction of the new power system will lead to further development of industries including CCUS, which is expected to be widely applied in sectors such as coal power, gas power, steel and cement, said Xin Baoan, chairman of State Grid Corp of China.

As China strives to achieve a carbon dioxide peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, China's CCUS emissions reduction demand is expected to reach as much as 408 million metric tons by 2030 and 600 million to 1.45 billion tons by 2050, Xin said in the recently released book New Power System and New Energy System.

The figure is expected to further climb to 1 billion to 1.82 billion tons by 2060, which gives the sector massive development potential, he added.

A new power system refers to a modernized and updated version of the traditional one and involves the integration of renewable energy sources, including solar and wind power, into the power grid. It also involves the implementation of new technologies and energy storage systems to improve the efficiency, reliability and sustainability of the system.

Differing from fossil fuels, new energy power generation requires a safer and more stable operation of the power system, as most new energies are intermittent with rapid and random variables, making it difficult to maintain stable and steady power generation.

"As renewable energies can cause volatility in voltage and frequent disturbances in grid operation during power transmission, it is necessary to develop new power systems to meet growing demand buoyed by increasing new energy installations," said Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University.

According to State Grid Corp, while CCUS in China is still in the infancy stage, the sector is expected to gradually gain widespread applications after 2030.

China's CCUS demonstration projects are distributed across 19 provinces, with a diverse range of applications. By the end of 2022, China had nearly 100 CCUS demonstration projects in operation or under planning, with over half already under operation, capable of capturing approximately 4 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, said the company.

While the number of projects is relatively small, and there is a lack of large-scale, replicable and economically viable integrated applications, the potential remains massive, it said.