Photovoltaic power station in Hebei Province. (PHOTO:XINHUA)

By Staff Reporters

    At the national energy work conference held at the end of December last year, the National Energy Administration (NEA) announced that the installed capacity of power generators using renewable resources has exceeded one billion kW — a historic breakthrough.

    Though fossil fuels still play an important role in electricity generation in China, the country is working towards a greener mode of energy consumption.

    In 2021, the annual generated energy via new energy resources surpassed one trillion kWh for the first time.

    By November of 2021, the installed capacity of generators by water drew close to 400 million kW, increasing 5.5 percent year-on-year. In June of 2021, the Baihetan hydropower station, the world's largest hydropower station under construction, began operation with two generating units. With a total installed capacity of 16 million kW, the Baihetan hydropower station can generate more than 62.4 billion kWh of electricity on average annually, after all 16 units are operational.

    Up by 29 percent on a year-on-year basis, the installed capacity of wind power topped 300 million kW. In 2021 China saw huge technological progress in its wind  power  projects.  At  an  altitude of 5,158 meters, the world's highest wind power project began operation in Xizang Autonomous Region last December. Not long before that, the first typhoon -resistant floating offshore wind turbine in the world was put into use in Yangjiang, Guangdong province.

    The installed capacity of solar power saw an increase of 24.1 percent in 2021 compared with that of 2020.

    Apart from the achievements in installed capacity, the utilization rate of water power, photovoltaic power and wind power delivered praiseworthy performance, reaching as high as 97.8 percent, 97.9 percent and 96.9 percent respectively, effectively reducing energy loss.

    With a total installed capacity of 53.26 million kW, nuclear power generation also played its part. The world's first High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor - Pebble-bed Module (HTR-PM) at the Shidaowan nuclear power station in Shandong province was connected to the grid on December 20, 2021. This is a clear indication of the country's progress in nuclear power generation.

    The year 2021 was a fruitful year for greener power generation. In 2022, the NEA will accelerate the research and development on technological equipment, especially in fields such as renewable resources, and greatly promote the innovation of technology in the energy industry.