State Power Investment Corp investing in a greener future

State Power Investment Corp, the world's largest investor in solar power generating plants, has been stepping up efforts in clean energy transformation and is now taking a lead in the sector.

In July 2015, China Power Investment Corp and State Nuclear Power Technology Corp, the country's two major electricity industry players, merged into State Power Investment Corp.

Since then, the company's installed capacity of clean energy has increased from 43.2 gigawatts to 72.6 GW, with the proportion of clean energy rising from 40 percent to over 50 percent.

Its photovoltaic installations surged by 235 percent to 16.9 GW, ranking first in the world, while its installed capacity of wind power increased from 10 GW to 18.4 GW. Its focus on offshore wind power made it the owner of a number of high-quality demonstration projects, with the largest single-unit capacity in Asia, the farthest distance to shore and the largest construction scale in China.

"State Power Investment Corp has undergone earthshaking changes through transformation from a thermal-intensive to a green power-dominated energy company, and from a traditional power generation enterprise to a forerunner of clean energy," said Qian Zhimin, chairman of the company.

"Evaluating the overall status of China's energy development, we realized that it was the responsibility and mission of a State-owned energy enterprise to implement clean energy transformation in the new era," Qian said.

He noted that the company raised the goal of "building a world-class clean energy enterprise by 2035", and had been constantly increasing clean energy investment and accelerating structural adjustment. In recent years, the company's investments in clean energy accounted for around 60 percent.

According to the company, in the process of green energy transformation many world-class clean energy bases were established. The construction of the world's largest single-unit capacity wind power generation base - a 6 GW grid demonstration project in Ulaanqab in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region - has started. Once completed, the base will be able to provide 20 tWh of clean energy power to Beijing annually.

Meanwhile, the construction of two 10 GW-class power generation bases where wind, solar and hydro power generation facilities were integrated for ecology purposes is in full swing in Qinghai province, aiming at bringing more clean power into tens of thousands of households.

Yang Yifang, senior director of strategic research at the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange, said that China's energy structure is inherently inadequate. The high coal endowment led to a large proportion of coal in the country's energy structure, while clean energy accounted for a relatively small proportion.

He noted that the energy industry has the property of a natural monopoly, and the previous oil and gas system and power system can no longer meet the needs of market development. In order to improve core competitiveness and resource allocation efficiency, an energy revolution is needed, which will help State-owned enterprises to lead the industry, he said.