China pledges to improve effective use of clean energy

China's top economic regulator said on Wednesday that China will eliminate obstacles for using wind and solar power by deepening reform in its electricity system.

Lian Weiliang, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the country will select a few regions as pilots for carrying out comprehensive reform of its electricity system and improve the use of wind and solar.

"Although the electricity generated from wind and solar grew rapidly, how to use the clean energy effectively needs to be put to a series technical measures and supporting efforts with the power grids in place, as well as some reform measures," Lian told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

China will gradually improve the share of clean energy in its energy mix to optimize the energy structure and curb pollution. The country has set a goal to increase its share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 20 percent by 2030.

Although the share of electricity generated from renewable sources continues to grow in China, the effective use of wind and solar power continues to be a challenge.

The main reasons for the curtailments were a lack of transmission capacity, with the power grids still giving priority to coal-powered plants, experts said.

In the first six months of this year, more than 15 percent of the electricity generated from wind power in China had restrictions placed on it, a 6.8 percent rise on the previous year.

Similarly, about 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity generated from solar power had the same, mainly in northwest China, such as Gansu province and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.