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China Tackles Rural Electrification A December 2002 report from Embassy
Beijing. China is undertaking a $240 million
"village power" electrification program in an effort to address the
needs of the 30 million mostly rural Chinese who still lack electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy is
stepping up to help. There may
also be opportunities for U.S. equipment manufacturers. Off-Grid
Applications for Renewable Energy Chinese
who lack electricity are primarily located in isolated rural villages away
from the power grid, in mountainous or sparsely-populated provinces such as
Tibet, Guizhou, Yunnan, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Hainan. The astronomical costs of connecting
these villages to the grid makes stand-alone "village power
systems," often based on renewable energy sources such as mini-hydro,
wind or photovoltaic solar power, a winning economic proposition. Nationally,
98% of all villages and 97% of all households have electricity, according to
the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC). To bring power to the remaining "dark" villages,
China is implementing a $240 million program. Rural electrification is not new, of course, but this
program represents a major effort to tackle this old problem. $240
Million for Hydropower and Photovoltaics The
new nationwide program is called "Sending Electricity to the
Countryside," or "song dian dao xiang" -- SDDX. Phase One will bring electricity to 1
million people in 1,061 townships, primarily in western provinces. The program relies heavily on hydropower
(90% of planned capacity but only 1/3 of the projects) but also involves a
significant amount of photovoltaic solar power (10% of planned capacity and
2/3 of the projects). There will
also be a small number of wind-solar hybrid projects (less than 2% of the
projects). There are no
conventional coal-fired or diesel-powered generated plants envisioned in this
program. Electrification
and road building are two cornerstones of China's anti-poverty strategy. Previous electrification programs
have brought tiny (20-watt) home-use photovoltaic solar power systems to some
rural districts in Tibet, for example.
One-third of the SDDX projects will be built in Tibet, one-quarter
will be in Sichuan and 10% will be in Xinjiang. Non-Connectivity
Mostly in China's West Following
is a table showing the number of people without electricity in China by
province. It is sorted by the
percentage of the provincial population that lacks electricity. (The total number of people without
electricity is calculated by multiplying number of non-connected households
by average household size. Not
all Chinese provinces are listed.) Province People
without Electricity %
of Population Tibet 1,374,000 52.8 Guizhou 4,839,000 13.8 Yunnan 3,741,000 8.9 Hainan 658,000 8.2 Qinghai 399,000 8.0 Gansu 1,949,000 7.8 Xinjiang 1,173,000 6.5 Ningxia 244,000 4.9 Inner
Mongolia 831,000 3.6 Guangxi 1,461,000 3.3 Shaanxi 1,032,000 2.9 Jiangxi 1,090,000 2.7 Sichuan 2,158,000 2.6 Henan 2,123,000 2.3 Chongqing 619,000
2.0 Hunan 934,000 1.5 Shanxi 407,000 1.3 Hubei 428,000 0.7 Anhui 284,000 0.5 Fujian 117,000 0.4 Guangdong 188,000 0.3 Heilongjiang 29,000 nil Liaoning 15,000 nil Hebei 49,000 nil Lack
of electricity is most severe in China's westernmost and southernmost
regions. Tibet stands out as a
very "dark" area, a reflection of the region's poverty and
ultra-rural population. Electricity
for Development, Not Just to Watch TV At
a December 2002 symposium on village power programs co-sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE), Mr. Shi Lishan of SDPC gave an overview of
China's energy picture. China
ranks second globally in installed capacity (338 gigawatts in 2000) and in
annual output (1.483 trillion kilowatt/hours in 2000). Shi described three problems with
China's electricity and energy situation: 1) an inadequate grid, 2)
over-dependence on coal, and 3) bad management. Dr.
Debra Lew from DOE's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) noted the need for
village-sized power systems, not just small home systems. A mini-grid in a village can provide
electricity vital for economic development. It creates options for running heavier equipment such as
saws, pumps, refrigerators, grinders and sewing machines. Lew
said that hybrid systems which combine two or more energy sources (for
example, mixed wind-solar systems) can be cheaper in the long run, easier to
maintain, and more reliable than single-source systems which place all the
energy "eggs" in one basket.
Accurate assessment of local energy resources and the true costs of
installation and operation are important for choosing the right system, she said. Local energy resources include wind
and solar resources, but also might be something as unexpected and exotic as
coconut shells. Focus
on Institutions, Not Technology Dr.
Lew and other speakers emphasized that resolution of institutional issues is
just as important as overcoming technical obstacles in keeping village power
systems up and running. The key
issue is sustainability, not installation. Important aspects include marketing, distribution, sales,
service, maintenance and revenue collection. Part of the institutional picture is to accurately assess
the project's goals, in terms of factors such as cost and reach. Reliable
revenue from generating electricity is essential to costs the costs of upkeep
and supplies. Enforcing the
payment of electricity bills also helps regulate demand. Public education and energy-efficient
appliances can maximize the utility of the village power system. Running power systems in a
business-like way promotes replicability, Dr. Lew said. So does having a large number of
installations clustered near each other (making it easier to share
maintenance costs). Maintenance
support for the system has to be planned in from the beginning; it is a
crucial part of any energy system. Comment:
DOE Program Advances U.S. Interests DOE
support for village energy programs (see also EST Newsletter reporting on a
wind-diesel hybrid demonstration project installed in Shandong, at http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/estnews083002.htm) is helping China
to focus on humdrum but important institution-building as well as "gee
whiz" technology. At the
same time, China's "Sending Electricity to the Countryside"
initiative is an important opportunity for U.S. manufacturers of renewable
energy technology ready to meet the environmental and maintenance challenges
of operation in China' more remote corners. For
Further Information Further
information on DOE programs is available at NREL's sustainable village power
website (http://www.nrel.gov). The U.S. Agency for International
Development's Global Village Energy Partnership website (http://www.gvep.org) is also a useful
reference, although USAID is not active in China in promoting the use of renewable
energy. |