China must overhaul vast power grid if it’s serious about tackling climate change: analysts

Beijing says by 2030 it will force grid operators to buy at least 40 per cent of their power from non-fossil fuel sources

Analysts question China’s commitment to renewable energy plans but say tackling the power system is essential to the health of the planet

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Green energy experts say building new solar plants and wind farms is the easy part – upgrading the system to transmit that green power to faraway consumers is costly and depends on rapid technological progress. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:40pm, 19 May 2021Updated: 10:55pm, 19 May 2021

One of the most pressing challenges for China to meet its pledge to cap carbon emissions this decade and pivot towards renewables is overhauling its electricity grid, the world’s largest, officials and analysts say.

Beijing’s surprise announcement last year that it would hit peak emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060 could presage the biggest reduction in projected global warming of any climate commitment to date, researchers say.

But building new solar plants and wind farms is the easy part, analysts say. Upgrading the system that transmits that green power to faraway consumers could be five times more costly, and depends on rapid technological progress.

“When we talk about the challenges, most people focus on the [electricity] grid,” said Xie Chunping, an expert on China’s policies on climate change and energy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “It’s the first step in this long journey.”

Investments in China’s grid and other associated costs are expected to exceed 6 trillion yuan (US$930 billion) over the next five years, Mao Weiming, former chairman of State Grid, said in a speech in October.

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