China produces more clean energy than any other country. Now it's rolling out an ultra-high-voltage grid to match – will its strategy of going big pay off?
China produces more clean energy than any other country. Now it's rolling out an ultra-high-voltage grid to match – will its strategy of going big pay off?
The Chinese call them the "Shinkansen for power", using the Japanese name for bullet trains, a symbol of speed and efficiency. Liu Zhenya, the then head of China's State Grid and dubbed by the Chinese media as the "father of UHV power lines",where a mega grid would end the country's blackouts – by transmitting electricity nationwide – and make China a global leader in transmission technologies. But his idea was met with staunch opposition.
"China has taken to the next level and pushed the envelope" in a way it has with many technologies associated with energy transition, Arciniegas says. Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder of Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air , agrees that the distances between energy production sites and cities is a challenge in such a large country. But the technology comes with energy benefits, too.
Such vast inputs mean the grids must ensure those lines' annual operating hours in order to recover their investments. "Therefore, if there isn't enough wind and solar power when a line is expected to operate, it will send coal power instead," says Shen Xinyi, a researcher at CREA. Yu Aiqun, a research analyst with Global Energy Monitor, a US-based NGO points out that it may be more cost-effective for cities and towns to generate power locally than to import them long distance because of how expensive it is to build a UHV line.
Moving electricity across borders – or across states in the US – faces other challenges in spite of the evolving technology, warns Arciniegas of RAND. The biggest hurdles are regulatory issues, he says. "You'll need a lot of paperwork, permits, etc, to make happen and not everyone wants to have a transmission line next to their house."
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