Green power projects key to building new type rural energy system

As Chinese modernization necessitates the accelerated comprehensive vitalization of rural areas, the country's "No 1 Central Document" for 2025 released on Feb 23 proposed to "consolidate and enhance the level of rural power supply".

Electricity is a vital force for the comprehensive vitalization of rural areas, and power grid is an essential infrastructure asset for this vitalization. It is therefore necessary to adhere to both goal-oriented and problem-oriented approaches, promote the consolidation and elevation of rural power supply levels in a location-specific, scenario-specific and time-specific manner, strengthen the support and guarantee capabilities of the power grid, and hasten the standardization of urban and rural power services so as to bolster the building of a new type of rural energy system, and provide strong, reliable, safe, efficient, green and low-carbon power support for the comprehensive vitalization of rural areas.

First, it is essential to stick to location-specific and precise policymaking approaches to promote the high-quality construction of modern rural power grids. Currently, the electrification level of production and livelihoods in rural areas is rising steadily, with continuous growth in power demand. Coupled with the booming development of renewable energy in rural areas and the accelerated penetration of new energy vehicles, the energy consumption structure in rural areas has undergone remarkable changes, and rural power grids face new and higher development requirements. In recent years, although rural power grids have experienced multiple rounds of construction and transformation, there is still much room for improvement, and people's need for better power supply quality is becoming increasingly urgent. It is necessary to set the goal of building a modern rural power grid, coordinate the needs of power supply and energy transformation based on the development stage and industrial features of rural power grids in different regions, formulate differentiated and precise development plans, moderately front-load the construction of rural power grids, and enhance the power supply guarantee capabilities in rural areas so as to ensure sufficient electricity supply for the economic and social development of rural regions and agricultural production. By focusing on solving the problems of unbalanced and insufficient development between urban and rural power grids, it is imperative to encourage and guide additional investment in rural power grids, address shortcomings, strengthen weak links and remedy bottlenecks in a bid to improve and optimize the grid structure, lift the standards of disaster prevention and mitigation, and enhance the application of digital and intelligent technologies to further improve the comprehensive carrying capacity and disaster resistance of rural power grids.

Second, it is vital to follow the trend and promote the development and utilization of distributed renewable energy in an active and orderly manner. China's rural regions are rich in wind, solar and biomass energy assets, which are important foundations and advantageous conditions for rural vitalization. In recent years, with the introduction of favorable policies such as the development of whole-county rooftop distributed photovoltaic power generation — and the breakthrough development of wind and photovoltaic technologies and equipment — the development and utilization of new energy in rural areas has seen enormous progress and has become a powerful engine for rural development in the new era. However, the randomness and volatility of distributed renewable energy output pose great challenges to the balanced regulation and flexible operation of the power system, which requires coordinated efforts from policy guidance, technological control and operational guarantees to improve the consumption and utilization levels of new energy. We must adhere to the principle of "scientific layout, orderly development, nearby connectivity and local consumption" to balance the development needs, scale and construction sequences of various types of new energy, and ensure that distributed renewable energy can be "generated, supplied and utilized well". It is also necessary to follow the path of coordinated development of "resources, grid, load and storage" to strengthen research into the construction of new types of rural power systems, focus on promoting the application of new technologies such as micro-grids, new storage modes of energy and virtual power plants, and actively promote new business models, modes of green power and green certificate trading and integrated energy services so as to further improve the flexibility and regulatory capabilities of the rural power system and the utilization rate of new energy.

Third, it is essential to adapt to the times, improve power quality and increase its efficiency to bolster the green and low-carbon transformation of rural energy consumption. Rural energy, as an important part of China's energy system, is the cornerstone and guarantee for the comprehensive vitalization of rural areas. With the in-depth implementation of the "dual carbon" strategy — peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 — and the rural vitalization strategy, alongside the accelerated advancement of pilot counties for the rural energy revolution, a modern rural energy system characterized by clean, low-carbon and multi-energy integration is being rapidly formed, which has played a positive role in meeting the clean energy needs of rural areas, stimulating rural economic growth and promoting farmers' income generation. However, it should be noted that traditional energy sources still dominate energy consumption in rural areas, with a low energy-utilization efficiency and high carbon emission levels, making the energy revolution in rural areas a long and arduous task. It is imperative to start from and focus on meeting people's growing need for better lives in terms of energy consumption, ensure power supply for clean heating through methods of "coal-to-electricity" and "electricity to irrigation wells", develop high-standard cropland, accelerate the realization of "county-wide coverage" of charging stations suitable for new energy vehicles and "township-wide coverage" of charging piles, and accelerate the transformation of rural areas from "having access to electricity" to "having good usage of electricity". It is also crucial to explore replicable and promotional typical models for the rural energy revolution, build pilot demonstration projects such as "agro-photovoltaic complementarity" and "fishery-photovoltaic complementarity" in agricultural production, create innovative examples such as all-electric homestays, zero-carbon scenic spots and vehicle-grid interaction in rural tourism, and increase the proportion of electricity in rural energy consumption by drawing upon the experiences gained on key points, in a bid to help realize the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, as well as rural vitalization as soon as possible.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

The writer is from the Party School of the CPC Dezhou Municipal Committee.