State subsidies will be phased out, and online prices will match coal power
The era of wind price is approaching (green power on Xiaokang Road)
Core reading
As of the end of last year, the cumulative installed capacity of wind power in China exceeded 210 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world. The newly approved wind power projects will gradually no longer enjoy state subsidies, which will be the same as the traditional coal-fired benchmark on-grid electricity prices. How is the wind price going online? Without state subsidies, can the wind power industry develop smoothly and orderly?
In Yumen, Gansu, white wind turbines rose up from the hillside, and huge blades slowly turned to send green power to thousands of households. Here, it is located in China's first grid-connected affordable wind power demonstration project-China Nuclear Heiyazi 50 MW wind power price demonstration project.
"In August last year, the Yumen wind turbines were connected to the grid, and the on-grid electricity price was the same as the local coal-fired benchmark electricity price, 0.3078 yuan / kWh." Zhang Zhenwen, head of China Nuclear Power Northwest Branch, introduced that the project's annual power generation capacity is about 152 million kW At the time, it was equivalent to saving over 53,000 tons of standard coal and 160,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
In simple terms, the wind-level electricity price is the same as the traditional coal-fired electricity price, and no state subsidies are required. Starting from this year, coal power will implement a "base price + floating up and down" mechanism, and the parity on-grid price of wind power will temporarily match the local coal power base price.
According to the relevant documents of the National Development and Reform Commission and other relevant departments, since January 1, 2021, the newly approved onshore wind power projects have fully realized the parity of the grid, and the state will no longer subsidize it. Since 2020, the new offshore wind power will no longer be included in the scope of the central government subsidy, and will be supported by the localities according to the actual situation. The approval (recording) will be completed according to the regulations and all the units will be connected to the grid-connected offshore wind power generation by December 31, 2021. The project shall be included in the scope of the central government subsidy according to the corresponding price policy.
Wind curtailment and wind curtailment rates will both drop in 2019
It is the established goal of the national energy strategy to promote wind-level electricity prices. Since 2017, the National Energy Administration has successively organized the construction of multiple batches of wind-level grid-connected projects. In recent years, the cumulative scale of grid-connected wind power projects has reached 11.217 million kilowatts, equivalent to half of the total installed capacity of the Three Gorges Dam.
"The newly added onshore wind power will be fully priced from 2021, basically in line with industry expectations. In the past 10 years, the cost of onshore wind power in China has dropped by 40%. Excluding non-technical costs, most areas, especially new wind power onshore projects, Subsidies are needed again. In areas with good wind resources, some places are even 0.1 yuan / kWh lower than coal-fired power, "said Qin Haiyan, secretary general of the Wind Energy Special Committee of the Chinese Renewable Energy Society.
In recent years, the scale of China's wind power market has steadily expanded, driving continuous improvement in technology and continuous decline in costs.
As of the end of last year, China's cumulative grid-connected installed capacity exceeded 210 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world. The technical level of wind power has also been greatly improved: the unit capacity of the unit is continuously increasing; the diameter of the wind wheel has been expanded from 20 meters to 180 meters; the height of the blade tip has been from about 33 meters to 234 meters today ...
"These technological advancements have effectively enhanced the wind-trapping performance and reliability of wind turbines, and have steadily reduced the cost of wind power." Qin Haiyan introduced. The data shows that from 2005 to 2018, the initial investment and construction costs of China's onshore wind farms fell by 49%, operation and maintenance costs fell by 5% -10%, and wind power generation efficiency increased by 20% -30%. The cost of offshore wind power projects has also fallen rapidly, with a drop of more than 30%.
The funding gap for subsidies continues to increase, and reducing dependence on subsidies is beneficial to the long-term development of the industry. The relevant person in charge of the New Energy Department of the National Energy Administration told reporters that the average subsidy intensity of new onshore wind power has dropped from 0.25 yuan per kilowatt-hour at the highest hour to 0.06 yuan per kilowatt-hour (based on the 2019 guidance price).
"Consumption can be said to be a major prerequisite for parity. If there is a curtailment of curtailment, it will directly reduce project benefits and affect the confidence of enterprises in parity." Zhang Zhenwen believes. In 2019, the national average wind curtailment rate was 4%, a year-on-year decrease of 3 percentage points, and continued to achieve a double decline in wind curtailment power and wind curtailment rates, to a certain extent, promoting the enthusiasm of wind power companies to surf the grid at a fair price.
Affordable Internet access is a key step for clean energy such as wind power to move towards mainstream energy
"From the perspective of the history of energy development, economics are an indispensable factor for any kind of new energy to become mainstream energy." According to Zhang Lei, CEO of Yuanjing Technology Group, parity access is a key step for clean energy such as wind power to move toward mainstream energy. The basic conditions of technology and economy have been met. However, the road to wind-level pricing is not smooth.
The relevant person in charge of the New Energy Department of the National Energy Administration said that he is currently studying and formulating guidance on the establishment and improvement of a long-term mechanism for clean energy consumption. Relevant requirements are put forward in respect of the compliance mode and construction of closed-loop supervision system, and specific measures are clarified.
"Strict control of non-technical costs is an important measure to reduce the cost of wind power in the future. The local government regulates reasonable land use and related tax and fee policies, and the perfect grid-connected services of grid companies are the basis for the sustainable and healthy development of the renewable energy industry. Local energy authorities have increased coordination with relevant departments to promote the reduction of non-technical costs. In addition, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of a green energy financial system and effectively reduce the financing threshold and financing costs of wind power projects.
Full guarantee storage still needs to be further implemented. According to the “Notice on Actively Promoting Non-subsidized Affordable Grid-connected Wind Power and Photovoltaic Power Generation” issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration in 2019, we propose to guarantee priority power generation and full guarantee for wind-level grid-connected projects and low-cost grid-connected projects. Support measures such as sexual acquisitions and the implementation of fixed electricity price acquisition policies. However, some enterprises report that some localities have not strictly implemented state regulations, and there are cases where the purchase price is lower than the electricity price level specified by relevant national policies.
China's wind power industry still has a lot of room to reduce costs and increase efficiency
The data shows that the wind resource technology development capacity of 19 provinces in the southeast of China is more than 1 billion kilowatts, and currently only 11% is developed. "New wind power and photovoltaics have become the cheapest power sources in about 2/3 of the countries or regions in the world." Qin Haiyan believes that there is still much room for cost reduction and efficiency gains in China's wind power industry.
The final node of wind power grid subsidies is coming. Since last year, some approved unconstructed stock projects have strived to enjoy state subsidies as much as possible, and there has been a phenomenon of “robbing equipment orders”. Some people worry that there will be overcapacity, leading to disorderly development of the industry?
The relevant person in charge of the National Energy Administration responded that most of the existing projects have completed equipment orders, demand has begun to fall, and the price of the entire wind turbine has begun to stabilize. Equipment manufacturers have not yet begun to expand capacity significantly. The implementation of consumption as a condition, matching the consumption capacity, will not cause overcapacity in wind power projects. We will also strengthen supervision of development and construction in various regions. "
After entering the era of parity, the wind power industry will face full market competition, which may mean a reduction in profit margins for investors, equipment vendors and other related companies. Many companies believe that for the sustainable development of the wind power industry, the key is to achieve high-quality development, especially the need for collaborative development of the entire industry chain to achieve healthy development.
Ding Yiting