Solar, Wind, Hydro and Nuclear energy in China

by

China is targeting at least 20 GW of new wind power installations and 15 GW of additional solar PV capacity in 2016 according to the National Energy Administration.

China ended 2015 with about 120 GW of wind power, 43 GW of solar, and 320 GW of hydro power.

In 2014, China’s wind power generation capacity reached 114.6 GW, and generated 153.4 TWh of electricity.

20 GW of wind would generate about 27 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity each year.
15 GW of solar would generate about 15 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity each year.
As of October 2015, China plans to install 150 GW of solar power by 2020.

China completed 8 nuclear reactors in 2015 and will be completing about 9 in 2016 (9.1 GW or about 70 TWh and another 7 in 2017 (7.6 GW or 50 to 55 TWh).

280 GW of hydro generated 1,064 TWh in 2014.
320 GW of hydro should generate about 1200 TWh.

China produced a total 75.36 TWh of nuclear power in the first half of 2015, accounting for 2.78% of the total electricity output, surging 34.38% from the previous year, said the China Nuclear Energy Association.

That equaled cutting 23.97 million tonnes of standard coal use, and emissions of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide by 62.80 million tonnes and 203,800 tonnes, respectively.

China’s nuclear power output over April-June contributed 40.3 TWh or 2.88% of the total power output during the second quarter.

At mid-2015 there were 25 nuclear generating units in commercial operation in China, with total installed capacity at 23.6 GW. China added 6 more nuclear reactors in the latter half of 2015 with 6.1 GW (45-50 TWh) of power. China’s 2015 nuclear reactors operating for a full year should generate about 210-240 TWh.

China become the world’s largest electricity consumer, passing the United States in 2011. In 2014, it generated 5583TWh, 25% more electricity than the US.

China’s electricity consumption reached 465.8 terawatt hours (TWh) in Nov of 2015, up 0.6% compared to the same period last year, according to statistics released by the National Energy Administration.

In the first eleven months of this year, the country consumed 5,049.3 TWhs of electricity, up 0.7% than in the corresponding period of last year. China added 90 GW of new power capacity in the first eleven months of this year, of which 13.3 GW was from hydroelectric power and 47.5 GW from thermal (coal) power.

China should have generated about 5620 TWh in 2015.

When China matches current US GDP per capita in 2050-2070 it will be generating 15000-20000 TWh.