Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 4.5
Installed capacity of China's hydropower (unit: 100 million kilowatt) (Resource:
National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Electricity Council)
4.1.3.1 Hydro Energy
Owning numerous rivers with abundant runoff and huge fall, China is rich in water
resource. Till the end of 2012, national hydropower installed capacity reached
249 million kilowatt (see Fig.
4.5
). Total installed capacity maintains to be the
first in the world and it is the leading renewable energy in China. Due to the
unbalance in China's hydro-energy distribution in terms of space and time, within
the installed capacity which can be explored by technologies in China, east area
with developed economy and heavy electricity load accounts for only 4.9 % [
7
],
which added the transition cost in hydropower exploration.
Compared with the hydro energy utilization ratio of over 50 % in developed
countries including USA and Japan, utilization ratio in China is still in a low
proportion with only 32 %. In the future, hydropower has huge potential. Currently,
based on the natural conditions such as river features, water system distribution
and development condition in China, departments concerned have made plans on
13 hydropower bases, which possess more than half resource in China (see Fig.
4.6
).
4.1.3.2 Wind Energy
Since twenty-first century, especially after the implementation of 2005
Renewable
Energy Law
, wind power industry in China has realized scale development gradu-
ally. Till the end of 2012, total installed capacity of China's large-scale wind power
grid integration reached 60.83 million kilowatt (see Fig.
4.7
). During “Eleven Fifth
Year Plan” period, installed capacity of wind power in China doubled year after
year with the largest growth rate in the world, and the growth rate of each year is
more than 30 % after coming into the “Twelfth Fifth Year Plan”.
Wind power industry established on land in China mainly distributes in Three
North (Northeast, North China and Northwest) as well as coastal regions in
southeast China. Since 2008, China prepared to build seven ten-million-kilowatt
wind power bases in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu, Hebei and coastal areas in
