China has aimed to build 450 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power generation capacity on the Gobi and other desert regions, the chief of the state planner said on Saturday. This is a step to fight climate change.
President Xi Jinping is on a mission to make China’s total wind and solar capacity at least 1,200 GW and to contain its carbon emission to a peak by 2030.
“China is going to build the biggest scale of solar and wind power generation capacity on the Gobi and desert in history, at 450 GW,” He Lifeng, director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress.
China had installed 306 GW of solar power capacity and 328 GW wind capacity by the end of 2021. The construction of about 100 GW of solar power capacity has started already.
He also acknowledged that high-efficient coal-fired power plants and ultra-high voltage electricity transmission lines are necessary to facilitate the steady operation of the grid system amid large-scale renewable power installation.
Coal-fired power utilities can generate a stable baseload power supply to renewables, which can be stable and hence go through ups and downs with weather conditions.
His comment echoed a statement from China’s Vice Premier Han Zheng this week that China should give full play to “coal’s basic guaranteeing role in energy supplies”.
The NDRC said in its 2022 work plan issued on Saturday that China will “continue to leverage the peak-shaving and basic supporting role of traditional energy, especially coal and coal-fired power.”
 of solar and wind power generation capacity on the Gobi and other desert regions, the chief of the state planner said on Saturday. This is a step to fight climate change. President Xi Jinping is on a mission to make China’s total wind and solar capacity at […]&media=https://wonderfulengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/imgonline-com-ua-resize-oPVCVkAInr0A6I.jpg){kind=link}