China, UK partners in green transition

Collaboration essential in pursuing carbon reduction goals, expert says

Climate policy announcements out of the two sessions－the annual meetings of China's top legislative and political advisory bodies－are expected to bring a wealth of opportunities for collaboration between China and the United Kingdom, according to a UK government renewable energy adviser.

Both the UK and China have recently announced ambitious plans to reduce emissions over the coming decades. China has committed to lower its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product, or carbon intensity, by at least 65 percent by 2030, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Meanwhile, the UK has announced a "green industrial revolution" that will push the nation toward net-zero emissions by 2050.

Zhang Xiao-Ping, a professor of electrical power systems at Birmingham University and an expert advisory group member for the UK government's offshore transmission network review, told China Daily that bilateral collaboration will be essential to achieve these targets.

"The challenge is so huge," Zhang said. "The net-zero targets will bring further opportunities to deepen collaboration, and take research toward industry solutions. We need to speed this up and get cheaper, more reliable solutions. We need massive innovation in renewable energy generation equipment, energy storage equipment, electricity transmission distribution equipment and electric vehicle infrastructure."

Zhang said he expects further details on China's planned energy transition to come out of the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, known as the two sessions, with further plans outlined in the forthcoming 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

"My guess is they will be putting forward a strategic plan for when they will gradually phase out conventional coal-fired power plants," Zhang said. "In the meantime, they need to also build up renewable energy generation capacity very quickly, otherwise the target will be difficult to realize in the time scale."

Zhang said that part of the challenge will involve encouraging innovation to drive down the cost of low-emission energy equipment, and to come up with solutions for present shortcomings in renewable forms of power.

He identified key areas where he expects British and Chinese stakeholders will come together, including electric vehicle charging infrastructure, energy storage and offshore wind power.

The UK is a global leader in offshore power, with the largest installed capacity in the world, and China has indicated that it intends to triple wind and solar capacity over the next decade.

"Offshore wind will be the focus, a big topic for China and the UK, and the UK is leading in this area," Zhang said. "The UK is developing novel ideas like the floating offshore wind turbines. There are demonstration projects which will scale up and speed up the development of this technology."

Zhang said that "we must be aware of the challenge" ahead of the UK and China in their shared aspirations to overhaul current energy infrastructure.

"But we cannot underestimate the determination by the Chinese government," he said. "At the two sessions, they will make clear announcements, giving us more of an idea of the timeline, and splitting it into different stages. This is a global agenda, and they will not be going back on this. The target is clear. The timeline, investment plan and the policies will follow."