China's pumped storage capacity surpassed 50 million kilowatts

The "China Renewable Energy Development Report 2023," recently published by the General Institute of Hydropower Planning and Design, reveals that as of 2023, China's cumulative pumped storage capacity has exceeded 50 million kilowatts.

From People.cn

The "China Renewable Energy Development Report 2023," recently published by the General Institute of Hydropower Planning and Design, reveals that as of 2023, China's cumulative pumped storage capacity has exceeded 50 million kilowatts. In addition, an extra 5.15 million kilowatts of pumped storage capacity will be operational by 2023, marking a significant breakthrough in Northwest China's zero pumped storage capacity. Furthermore, there were approvals for the construction of 49 new pumped storage power stations annually.

In terms of engineering characteristics, ongoing construction projects for pumped storage demonstrate a tendency towards high head and large single capacities, with an increasing proportion of dams exceeding heights of 100 meters. Additionally, the utilization rate shows that both the generation and consumption of electricity from these facilities have increased by over 17.9% year-on-year.

The report also indicates that global investment in clean energy transition is estimated to reach approximately $1.8 trillion USD in scale for the year 2023—a growth rate around 17%. The comprehensive advancement of major renewable energy projects within China has led to breakthroughs across various key technologies such as high-head and large-capacity impact hydropower units, large megawatt wind turbines, high-efficiency photovoltaic modules; furthermore, new advancements continue to be made in areas like energy storage and hydrogen energy technology.

In 2023, China's renewable energy is expected to continue its high-quality development trend. The cumulative installed capacity will account for more than half of China's total installed power generation capacity, with the new installed capacity representing over half of the global renewable energy. Simultaneously, there has been an accelerated pace in the development of hydrogen production from renewable energy sources. According to a report, the total hydrogen production capacity from renewable energy is projected to reach 78,000 tons/year in 2023, marking a significant increase of about 123%. Furthermore, the cost of hydrogen production from renewable energy sources has seen a notable decrease. Specifically, the cost of alkaline electrolyzer equipment has decreased by approximately 16% year-on-year and the cost of proton exchange membrane electrolyzer equipment has decreased by about 11% year-on-year.