Here will take wind power as an example to explain the solutions to new energy power generation problems and the opportunities for energy storage.
At present, China’s wind power development process is mainly faced with the problem of grid-connected consumption. Related reports show that in 2012, the newly added wind power grid-connected capacity was 14,820MW, a year-on-year increase of 31%. However, at the same time, the curtailment of wind power has not been alleviated. According to data from the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the curtailment of wind power from wind farms in the “Three Norths” region reached 12.3 billion kWh in 2011, with a wind curtailment rate of 16%. Although the grid-connected installed capacity and power generation of wind power have increased significantly, wind power curtailment still plagues wind power, and the problem of power curtailment in East Mengdong and Jilin is the most prominent; in winter, the proportion of heating power curtailment exceeds 50%, and the proportion of power grid operation in Mengxi, Jiuquan, and Zhangjiakou Bashang area is more than 20%. How to solve the problem of grid integration and consumption of wind power has become an urgent problem in China’s current wind power development. In order to solve this problem, the Energy Bureau and the Electricity Regulatory Commission issued a number of documents in due course to urge all parties to actively carry out their work.
The main ideas of the Energy Bureau are as follows:
1. Wind power development shifts to traditional grid receiving end areas, encouraging the development of distributed
The “Guiding Opinions on the Development and Construction of Decentralized Access Wind Power Projects” defines what is a distributed wind power project, and points out that the distributed wind power project is connected to the local power system with 110kV or 66kV step-down transformers and distribution transformers below the voltage level, and a single installed capacity does not exceed 50MW.
In the “Twelfth Five-Year” Second Batch of Wind Power Project Approval Plan, the second batch of conventional wind power projects to be approved in traditional large wind power provinces (autonomous regions) such as Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Gansu and Xinjiang have all been reduced to zero, and the approved installed capacity of most provinces and cities in East China, Central China, and North China has increased significantly. The National Energy Agency began to pay attention to the absorption capacity of the place where wind power projects are located, and the development of wind power shifted to the traditional grid receiving end areas.
2. Explore a variety of technologies to promote the integration and consumption of wind power
The “Twelfth Five-Year Plan for the Second Batch of Wind Power Projects Approval Plan” also includes 11 demonstration projects to promote the integration of wind power into the grid, involving a variety of technologies such as wind storage integration, wind-solar hybridization, wind power heating, wind-heat joint debugging, wind power and gas unit joint debugging. The guidance on the development and construction of decentralized access wind power projects points out that it is necessary to deeply analyze the operation characteristics and peak shaving potential of the power system in the “Three North” area, and put forward overall schemes and targeted measures to promote the grid connected consumption of wind power. In areas rich in wind energy resources, we will encourage the use of heat storage boilers and various energy storage technologies to promote the local consumption of wind power, and accelerate the establishment of a coordinated operation mechanism between wind farms and large power users and power systems such as heating and high load energy.
3. Strengthen the construction, operation and management of wind farms, and promote the integration of wind power into the grid
The “Guiding Opinions on the Development and Construction of Distributed Access Wind Power Projects” mainly stipulates the planning, construction and operation of distributed wind power projects, which is conducive to the standardized development of distributed wind power projects.
The “Notice on Strengthening Relevant Requirements for Wind Power Grid Integration and Consumption” pointed out that the development of wind power must determine the construction of wind power projects connected to the grid and the level of power market consumption. Do a good job in wind farm operation and dispatch management, improve the level of wind power prediction and forecast, and must not restrict the output of completed wind power projects due to new wind power projects.
4. Compulsory elimination of wind power
The “Administrative Measures for Renewable Energy Power Quotas” have not yet been released, but it can be seen from the published discussion draft that all provinces, cities, power generation companies, and power grid companies must assume a certain percentage of renewable energy power generation quotas. If this approach is finally introduced, it will greatly promote the grid-connected consumption of renewable energy, especially wind power.
