- Solar energy
Solar energy refers to the heat radiation energy of the sun. Solar energy can be used in two ways: photoelectric conversion and photothermal conversion. The use of solar energy mainly includes photovoltaic power generation and solar thermal power generation. Two-thirds of China’s land area has annual sunshine hours of more than 2,200 hours, and the total annual solar radiation is greater than 5,000 megajoules per square meter, which is a region with better solar energy utilization conditions. Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin, Yunnan, Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan and other regions have relatively large solar radiation energy, especially the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region with the most abundant solar energy resources.
In recent years, grid-connected photovoltaic power generation has developed rapidly, and its market capacity has exceeded that of decentralized photovoltaic power sources. In addition, the solar thermal utilization technology is mature and the operating cost is low, and it is being applied on a large scale. In 2014, the National Energy Administration and other institutions released the electricity consumption data of the whole society. The cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation throughout the year was 28.05 million kilowatts, an increase of 60% year-on-year. Among them, the photovoltaic power station was 23.38 million kilowatts, and the distributed installed capacity was 4.67 million kilowatts. The annual photovoltaic power generation capacity is about 25 billion kilowatt-hours, an increase of more than 200% year-on-year. In 2014, the nation’s new grid-connected photovoltaic power generation capacity was 10.6 million kilowatts, accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s new capacity and accounting for China’s photovoltaic cell module output. One-third, the installed capacity of new photovoltaic power plants is 8.55 million kilowatts, and the distributed installed capacity is 2.05 million kilowatts. From the perspective of the layout of photovoltaic power generation, the newly installed capacity in the eastern region is 5.6 million kilowatts, accounting for 53% of the newly installed capacity.
- Geothermal energy
Geothermal energy refers to the natural thermal energy extracted from the earth’s crust. This energy comes from the lava inside the earth and exists in the form of heat. The global distribution of geothermal resources is mainly concentrated in three zones: the first is the Pacific Rim, including the west coast of the United States, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Taiwan; the second is the mid-Atlantic ridge zone, mostly in the ocean. The northern end passes through Iceland; the third is from the Mediterranean to the Himalayas, including Italy and China’s Tibet. The utilization of geothermal energy mainly includes two methods: power generation and heat utilization, both of which are currently relatively mature. According to preliminary exploration, China’s geothermal resources are mainly medium and low temperature, suitable for industrial heating, building heating, health care, planting and breeding, etc. The resources are spread all over the country. There are few high-temperature geothermal resources suitable for power generation, mainly distributed in southern Tibet, western Sichuan, and western Yunnan, with an installed capacity potential of about 6 million kilowatts. At present, the total installed capacity of geothermal power generation in China is about 27,800 kilowatts. According to preliminary estimates, the country’s recoverable geothermal resources are about 3.3 billion tons of standard coal. According to official data released by the Ministry of Land and Resources, the amount of shallow geothermal energy in China is equivalent to 9.5 billion tons of standard coal, and the annual usable amount is about 350 million tons of standard coal; the resources of conventional geothermal energy are equivalent to 853 billion tons of standard coal. The usable amount is about 640 million tons of standard coal; the theoretical resource of enhanced geothermal energy is equivalent to 860 trillion tons of standard coal, which is about 200,000 times the total national energy consumption in 2013. Among them, Tibet’s geothermal reserves are the largest in China. In the first place, its geothermal resource power generation potential exceeds 1 million kilowatt-hours. Since the successful trial operation of the first 10,000-kilowatt test unit in the Yangbajing Geothermal Power Plant in September 1977, the installed capacity has reached a maximum of 250,000 kilowatts, and is currently about 21,000 kilowatts, accounting for 41.5% of the total installed capacity of the Lhasa power grid. In the winter dry season, geothermal power generation accounts for 60% of Lhasa’s power grid, becoming one of its main power grids, making a major contribution to alleviating the power shortage in Lhasa and promoting economic development.
According to figures released by the Geothermal Energy Association of America (GEA), global geothermal power generation has increased by 50% in the past 10 years. In 2012, the global installed capacity of geothermal power generation reached 11.7 million kilowatts.
- Ocean Energy
Tidal power generation is the main method of ocean energy utilization. It refers to storing seawater in the reservoir at high tide through the outflow of the reservoir, storing it in the form of potential energy, releasing the seawater at low tide, and using the drop between the high and low tide levels to drive the turbine Rotate, drive the generator to generate electricity. Great progress has also been made in the development and utilization of ocean energy such as tidal power generation, wave power generation and ocean current power generation, and tidal power generation is the primary form of scale. In 1967, the Lens Tidal Power Station was put into commercial operation in France. The power station was the world’s first large-scale tidal power station at the time: In 2011, the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station in South Korea was completed to generate electricity with an installed capacity of 254,000 kilowatts, making it the world’s largest tidal power station. China has abundant ocean energy resources, among which tidal energy resources are very dense. China’s offshore tidal energy is one of the regions with the highest power density in the world. China’s tidal energy resource reserves are about 110 million kilowatts, and the total developable installed capacity is 21.79 million. Kilowatts, the annual power generation capacity can reach 62.4 billion kWh, mainly concentrated in coastal areas such as Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu. China is rich in tidal energy resources, and the development and production of a new generation of high-efficiency and reliable tidal power generators will play a huge role in promoting China’s implementation of the renewable energy development strategy.