United Kingdom delegates visit the National Engineering Laboratory in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan province. Energy scientists from the two nations are cooperating to develop green technology. Provided to China Daily

China and Britain pool research resources to switch to greener energy

China and the United Kingdom both want to reduce their carbon footprint and improve their sustainable energy output and to make this happen, leading energy scientists from the two countries are developing green technology that will revolutionize the way electricity is distributed via national power grids.

With more than 4 million pounds ($6.4 million; 4.91 million euros) as an investment, the smart grid project is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in the UK.

Smart grids manage the supply and demand of power through the national distribution network more effectively by introducing high-tech communications to the system.

"Often existing power grids are outdated and inadequate," says David Delpy, chief executive of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. "They need to be updated to bring the grid into the 21st century, but they are also able to accommodate new energies such as solar and wind power."

Smart grids are more reliable and efficient than existing grids, Delpy adds, reducing the cost of producing, delivering and consuming electricity. They are also safer and more secure.

Introducing the latest smart grid technology will help reduce carbon use significantly, an important aim of the UK and China, he says.

Both countries are committed to reducing their carbon use by 40 to 45 percent of 2005 levels by 2020 for China and by 30 percent from 1990 levels for the UK.

China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) seeks to achieve a more balanced approach to growth and development, focusing greater attention on the environment and sustainable development.

In China, the green and low-carbon sectors have been identified as the core of a new industrial strategy and an important pillar for growth.

China needs more clean energy to meet escalating electricity demand, and that will require a smarter grid.

"In 2009, the State Grid Corporation of China published its Strong Smart Grid plan," says Song Yonghua, professor of electrical engineering at Tsinghua University, which also participated in the joint smart grid project. "A lot of investment and research work have been put into the evolution of traditional power systems to smart grids in recent years."

At the 2011 Smart Grid World Forum in Beijing, China's State Grid Corp announced plans to invest $250 billion (193 billion euros) in electric power infrastructure upgrades over the next five years, of which $45 billion is earmarked for smart grid technologies.

Regarding NSFC-EPSRC collaborative research projects in smart grids, Song says: "Initial research work suggests that there are significant research and development potentials required by both the UK and China in order to deliver a timely solution to the common future power system challenges."

The institutions involved in the projects have different backgrounds, strengths and concerns, which will complement each other, Song says.

Four proposals from the collaboration have been funded for the next three years. All projects are due to start at the beginning of next year.

In China, the projects will be managed by universities and institutions, including Xi'an Jiaotong University, Tianjin University and Tsinghua University.

By funding the collaborative research projects, Song says, "China will benefit from solving the related scientific problems, expand the view and understanding of smart grids, enhance international cooperation and exchange, especially in the power and energy community.

"In China, large-scale hydro-electric generation and wind farms are being rapidly set up, aimed at reducing fossil-fuel consumption and CO2 emissions," he says. "However, the hydro and wind sites that are remote from demand centers also require flexible transmission system technology, as well as embedded high voltage direct current transmission links."

As the largest electricity consumer in the world, China will account for one third of global energy demand growth between 2009 and 2035, the Paris-based International Energy Agency says.

The IEA expects China's electricity demand to grow by an annual average of 4 percent to reach 9,000 terawatt hours by 2035, tripling 2009 consumption levels.

China's current energy mix is heavily dependent on coal - about 70 percent in 2010 - and coal supply and price fluctuations are threatening economic growth.

China's electricity consumption grew by 11.7 percent in 2011 and 14.6 percent in 2010, each higher than GDP growth.

Coal shortages in 2011 forced China's national economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, to begin rationing electricity in April, months ahead of the normal summer peak.

In order to keep its economy growing at the current rate, it is important for China to bring more renewable energy power onto the national grid.

China's latest targets call for the country to increase renewable energy to 9.5 percent of overall consumption by 2015, and a smarter electricity grid will be crucial to this aim.

"The emergence of smart grids presents challenging questions for the research community - for example, surrounding the integration of large-scale renewable energy or in the distribution network operation and planning," Delpy says.

Research into smart grids is a priority for both the UK and China, he adds, and it is important that the best researchers come together to collaborate across disciplines and national boundaries.

With China pushing smart grid and low-carbon growth up the political and business agenda, China and Europe will enjoy closer cooperation in knowledge, capability and commercial expertise.

In late September, Research Councils UK and the NSFC in China announced a new multimillion pound joint collaboration on "Smart Grids and the Integration of Electric Vehicles".

RCUK will be committing 3 million pounds to the new initiative and this will be matched by NSFC funding. This brings the RCUK commitment to UK-China energy research alone to more than 24 million pounds with matched funding from Chinese partners.

China and Scotland also sealed a major green energy deal in January last year. The agreement, worth 6.4 million pounds, will see technology pioneered in Scotland used at a new renewable-energy conversion plant in China.

The licensing deal was reached between the Sino-Scotland company Shanghai Huanuan Boiler and Vessel Co/Cochran and the Scottish-based W2E Engineering, which specializes in generating electricity from domestic waste.

European countries' current leadership in low-carbon technology means that they will be the first to benefit from the growth in China's green markets.

China and Germany signed a deal to cooperate on low-carbon product certification in October 2009, the first such foreign cooperative program undertaken by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection.

"Science plays an increasingly important role in the transition to a low-carbon economy," UK Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts says.

"This international collaboration will bring together leading researchers from the UK and China to help develop the vital underpinning technology that both our nations need for a greener future."

zhangchunyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/26/2012 page20)