China’s green energy boom is stressing the grid – and sparking new currents in power reform

As China rapidly shifts its energy mix to new sources of power like wind and solar, its electricity grid is struggling to keep up – can deep reforms help rewire the system?

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Published: 6:00am, 3 Jul 2024Updated: 8:55am, 3 Jul 2024

Only a few years after droughts and heatwaves caused a spate of power outages that plunged millions into darkness across several Chinese provinces, other areas of the country are now dealing with what would appear at first glance to be an enviable luxury – a seemingly inexhaustible surplus of renewable energy.

In April, the power station for a town with half a million people in northeastern China received a notice from the provincial development and reform commission, the area’s top economic planner. Labelling the place a “red line region” for renewables, the commission slammed the brakes on a full-scale revamp of the grid to support photovoltaic power.

“The grid can no longer consume new energy,” said a local official in charge of power distribution on condition of anonymity. “There has been too much solar photovoltaic [building], and it has resulted in a backflow.”

Backflow in a power grid occurs when electricity moves in the opposite direction of what is typical – in this case, from the consumer to the distribution network – as energy generated by household solar panels exceeds local consumption. If left unmanaged, it could lead to voltage fluctuations or blackouts in the worst cases.

Similar conundrums are causing headaches for officials throughout the world’s second-largest economy. As China continues to swap out fossil fuels for green energy, the integration and consumption of wind and solar energy – sources which can be unpredictable even in ordinary times – has put a heavier strain on the system.

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