New energy development powers ahead

Lin added: "Over the mid- to long-term, to ensure a safe power supply after a large proportion of wind and solar power facilities are connected to the grid, efforts should be made to scale up installations of power storage systems to ensure stable energy supply, and gradually improve electricity's pricing mechanism."

Ren also said what is needed is a high level of opening-up in the energy sector and exploring new prospects for mutually beneficial energy cooperation.

Wang Lining, director of the oil market department at the Economics and Technology Research Institute under China National Petroleum Corp, said that with the rapid development of new sources of energy, the role of coal in China's energy structure is forecast to continue to change, from being the main source before 2030 to a supporting role between 2030 and 2040, followed by the role of emergency guarantor in case of new energy shortages between 2050 and 2060.

The share of coal in the energy structure is expected to decline to 44.3 percent in 2030 and 5.8 percent in 2060, according to ETRI forecasts.

"As the cleanest fossil fuel, natural gas is the main energy source to promote the development of a clean and low-carbon transformation of the energy structure," Wang said.

Before 2040, demand for gas in all sectors is expected to keep growing and to peak at 600 billion cubic meters in 2040, with 55 percent of the increase attributed to the generation of electricity. With the rapid development of new energies, the demand for gas in all sectors is forecast to fall to 370 billion cubic meters in 2060, according to ETRI.

It is forecast that in 2023, total energy consumption will reach the equivalent of 5.5 billion metric tons of standard coal, an increase of about 3 percent, while energy consumption per unit of GDP will continue to decline. Non-fossil energy will account for more than 18 percent. Electricity consumption will increase by 5.5 percent year-on-year, according to the State Grid Energy Research Institute, a subsidiary of the State Grid Corp of China.

In terms of power supply, it is forecast that China will have about 320 million kilowatts of newly installed power generation capacity by the end of 2023, and the total installed capacity will reach 2.96 billion kW by then, an increase of 12.2 percent over the previous year.

There is a high probability that coal's production capacity, output and ability to supply will increase, while coal imports will decrease in 2023. With the increase in the proportion of wind, solar and nuclear power generation, the demand for coal will see slower growth next year, and coal prices will gradually decrease to what is considered a reasonable level, said the institute.

Prices of oil and gas — impacted by the global supply and demand situation and geopolitical conflicts — are expected to remain high and volatile for a certain period, which may lead to a reduction in imports of these resources, it said.