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Author: Source: the Internet Published time: March 17, 2015
Energy strategy issues, such as energy production, consumption revolution, control of gross energy consumption, and perfection of resource product prices, have been written in the work report of the central government this year.
During the Two Sessions this year, Nur Bekri, director of the National Energy Administration (also a NPC delegate), Wang Yumin, deputy director of the Administration, and Shi Yubo (a CPPCC delegate) answered questions about the energy revolution and so on and confirmed the priorities of work in 2015.
According to Nur Bekri, an action plan will be made for energy production and consumption along the Silk Road economic belt. Mainly based on the provinces on the belt rich in energy resources, research will be conducted on green energy demonstration belt development, energy production, and the consumption revolution.
In June 2014, the Sixth Meeting of the Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs focused on the issue of energy security, where a general energy work requirement featuring “Four Revolutions” and “One Cooperation” was made. Since this meeting, the energy industry has sought to spark off revolutions in energy and consumptions, thus disrupting the old order.
On top of the 2015 agenda of Nur Bekri is the formulation of a long-term and intermediate energy plan.
To be specific, an energy production and consumption revolution plan will be made, based on the assumption that carbon dioxide emissions will peak around 2013 and that the consumption of non-fossil energy will account for 20% in 2030; the integration and balance between master plan and ad hoc plans and between key plans will be well coordinated to come up with the 13th Five Year Energy Plan and ad hoc supportive plans such as those for coal, electric power, petroleum and gas, nuclear power, renewable energy, and technological gear.
Next, the state’s regional development strategy will be implemented, while an action plan for energy production and consumption revolutions will be formulated. Mainly based on the provinces on the belt rich in energy resources, research will be conducted on green energy demonstration belt development, energy production, and the consumption revolution.
Energy production and consumption revolution pilots will be carried out by fully capitalizing on the demonstration projects. One to two of the provinces (regions or municipalities) rich in energy resources will be selected as pilots.
As a major energy region, Xinjiang is expected to be one of the pilots. During the Two Sessions, Nur Bekri revealed that the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration have already considered perfecting Xinjiang’s energy planning system and implementing the “Belt & Road” energy plan in the region; by sorting out and determining some major projects there, the two agencies will try to include them in the 13th Five-Year Plan and have them implemented gradually.
Besides, in 2015, important strategic projects and public ones will continue to be implemented. Research and discussions will be carried out, concerning major strategies such as hydropower development in Southwest China, nuclear power development, distributed energy, non-conventional and offshore petroleum and gas exploration and development, clean development and utility of coal, innovation in key technologies in the energy field, and transformation of consumption methods in main energy consumption fields.
The list of public projects includes: access to electric power for everyone by 2015; thorough survey on PV poverty alleviation to promote poverty alleviation efforts through PV; implementing public gasification projects in urban areas, and guaranteeing that newly-added natural gas be supplied to residents by priority.
Undoubtedly, promoting the reform in the energy industry is no easy task. As arranged in the central government’s work report, this year will see the reforms in electric power, petroleum and gas, and so on. We will lose no time to expedite price reform, allowing the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation.
Many years after the electric power industry reform and electric price reform, a new reform is around the corner. According to Wang Yumin, deputy director of the National Energy Administration, the Opinions of the State Council and CPC Central Committee about Deepening Electric Power Industry Reform will be issued soon. The power industry reform aims to solve five problems with the mechanism of electric power pricing, ending of monopoly, and so on.
Specifically speaking, first, the reform aims to restore the nature of electric power as a commodity by forming a mechanism of the market deciding the electric power tariff in order to guide effective resource development and reasonable utility through prices. Second, it aims to build an electric power market system, promoting the optimized allocation of electric resources in a larger scope. Third, it supports the development of clean energy and promotes the optimization of resource structure. Fourth, it seeks to encourage non-government-led investments and diversify market players. Fifth, it will further streamline government and delegate power while strengthening coordination and planning.
As Wang believes, the electric power industry reform should emphasize: building a market-based trading system to allow for effective competition on both the generation side and sales side; gradually deregulating the on-grid power tariff and sales tariff to separate the transmission-distribution price and generation price through the pricing mechanism; reforming the power generation and consumption plan to perfect public adjustment service from government; promoting the development and utility of new and renewable energy to actively develop distributed power; optimizing the distribution of power supplies and grids and strengthening the coordination and planning of grids, perfecting electric power monitoring measures and means, and improving the regulatory methods.
As Shi Yubo, deputy director of the National Energy Administration, emphasizes, it is imperative to pay close attention to the safe and stable operations of electric power while actively promoting energy production and consumption revolutions, expediting energy industry transformation and upgrade. He believes that some new problems have emerged during the implementation of the electric power substation process.
For example, there are such problems as dramatically increased complexity and vulnerability in the grid structure due to large-capacity and long-distance power transmission, insufficient local support for low-voltage-level grids, and insufficient adjusting capability for renewable energy such as wind and solar power.
Shi thinks that the current priority is to formulate a scientific grid development plan through scientific reasoning after carefully summarizing experience in grid development and figuring out the objective patterns. According to him, it is necessary to emphasize the implementation of work safety through risk controls in every detail, stress the importance of technological innovation, and strengthen regulation.
