NEW CHINA LAW REQUIRES PURCHASE OF ALL NEW ENERGY

China amends law to boost renewable energy law
Li Huizi, 2009 December 26 (Xinhua via China View)

"China's top legislature adopted…an amendment to the renewable energy law to require electricity grid companies to buy all the power produced by renewable energy generators…[with the supervision of] the State Council energy department and the state power regulatory agency…

"The amendment, approved by lawmakers after it was heard the second time at a five-day meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, aims to support the country's fledgling renewable energy sector…Power enterprises refusing to buy power produced by renewable energy generators will be fined up to an amount double that of the economic loss of the renewable energy company…"

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"…[T]wo-thirds of China's energy supply is fueled by coal, and the country has become one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters…The law, which took effect in January 2006, was aimed at "optimizing the country's energy structure and safeguarding energy security…" [and] covered subsidies, pricing management and supervision measures…A national plan on renewable energy development issued in 2007 set a target to increase renewable resources to supply 15 percent of its total energy consumption by 2020, in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable economic growth…[R]enewable resources supplied 9 percent of China's total energy consumption last year, an equivalent of reducing 600 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

"Last month, the State Council announced that China was going to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent compared with the level of 2005…[and] to achieve the emission reduction target it [will be] vital to realize the renewable energy consumption goal…"

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"Signaling an official effort to shore up clean energy development and fight climate change, the law requires the government to set up a special fund to renewable energy scientific research, finance rural clean energy projects, build independent power systems in remote areas and islands, and build information networks to exploit renewable energy…[It] will be managed by finance, energy and pricing sectors of the State Council.

"…[In] 2008, China used more hydro and solar power than any other country and its use of wind power ranked fourth…[but] one third of the country's wind-generated electricity could not be well transmitted to the grid…Therefore, the amendment requires grid companies to…enhance grid capability to absorb more power produced by renewable energy…[Experts see] "smart grids" as [an intelligent monitoring system that could integrate alternative sources of electricity, such as solar and wind, on a large scale as] a solution…"