China launches wind power lottery system to ease grid constraints

The city of Yanan, a major wind power base in northwest China’s Shaanxi province, has introduced a lottery system to approve the construction of wind-based generation systems during 2018. The lottery system is a local government’s measure to restrict the construction of new wind-based capacities due to grid constraints.

The city was given permission to build 900 MW of wind capacity during 2018, but 1,300 MW (or 1.3 GW) has already been declared eligible for construction, forcing authorities to cut down the total number of projects. The lottery system will help the local city government to determine what plans will be submitted (for approval) to the provincial development and reform commission.

China has been aggressively developing alternative power as part of its efforts to cut pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Grid-connected wind power reached 163.7 GW in 2017, up 10.1 per cent this year and amounting to 9.2 per cent of total generating capacity.

But capacity expansion has outpaced grid construction, and large numbers of wind, solar and hydropower plants are unable to deliver all their power to consumers as a result of transmission deficiencies.

Global Transmission