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"China's
top legislature adopted…an amendment to the renewable energy law to
require electricity grid companies to buy all the power produced by
renewable energy generators…[with the supervision of] the State Council
energy department and the state power regulatory agency…
"The
amendment, approved by lawmakers after it was heard the second time at
a five-day meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing
Committee, aims to support the country's fledgling renewable energy
sector…Power enterprises refusing to buy power produced by renewable
energy generators will be fined up to an amount double that of the
economic loss of the renewable energy company…"
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"…[T]wo-thirds
of China's energy supply is fueled by coal, and the country has become
one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters…The law, which took effect
in January 2006, was aimed at "optimizing the country's energy
structure and safeguarding energy security…" [and] covered subsidies,
pricing management and supervision measures…A national plan on
renewable energy development issued in 2007 set a target to increase
renewable resources to supply 15 percent of its total energy
consumption by 2020, in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
promote sustainable economic growth…[R]enewable resources supplied 9
percent of China's total energy consumption last year, an equivalent of
reducing 600 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
"Last month,
the State Council announced that China was going to reduce the
intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to
45 percent compared with the level of 2005…[and] to achieve the
emission reduction target it [will be] vital to realize the renewable
energy consumption goal…"
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"Signaling
an official effort to shore up clean energy development and fight
climate change, the law requires the government to set up a special
fund to renewable energy scientific research, finance rural clean
energy projects, build independent power systems in remote areas and
islands, and build information networks to exploit renewable
energy…[It] will be managed by finance, energy and pricing sectors of
the State Council.
"…[In] 2008, China used more hydro and
solar power than any other country and its use of wind power ranked
fourth…[but] one third of the country's wind-generated electricity
could not be well transmitted to the grid…Therefore, the amendment
requires grid companies to…enhance grid capability to absorb more power
produced by renewable energy…[Experts see] "smart grids" as [an
intelligent monitoring system that could integrate alternative sources
of electricity, such as solar and wind, on a large scale as] a
solution…"
China amends law to boost renewable energy law
Li Huizi, 2009 December 26 (Xinhua via China View)
