A Marshall Plan to Build a Smart Grid–in China

[kristopher]

A Marshall Plan to Build a Smart Grid–in China

by James Greenberger on September 17, 2011

I wrote in last week’s column about the three most interesting insights into the future of grid-connected energy storage offered last week at the 2011 NAATBatt Annual Meeting and Conference by David Mohler, chief technology officer of Duke Energy. It occurred to me after posting my article that I neglected one other important insight. The fourth insight came not from David’s speech but from where he went after his speech: David is in China this week exploring commercial opportunities, undoubtedly trying to find ways to monetize Duke’s expertise in power technology.

The last time I checked, China was outside of Duke Energy’s service territory. But Duke, as always, may be on to something. Duke and other owners of advanced electric power technology, including energy storage technology, may have the most advanced electric power technology in the world. But the immediate market for that technology is not in the United States. The immediate market for that technology is in China.

The potential growth in China’s electricity sector is astounding. A KPMG study expects that electricity consumption in China will rise to 6,400 TWh by 2020, up from 3,600 TWh in 2010. To meet that demand, approximately $2.8 billion in additional investment will be needed, says KPMG.

But building a replica of the early Twentieth Century power grid used in America will not solve China’s problem. Rising living standards, and even more rapidly rising expectations, will press China’s leadership to expand the availability of electric power even faster than KPMG projects. The key to doing this will be maximizing the efficiency of electricity use, not just the level of its production. In addition, the environmental impact of new coal-fired electricity generation plants poses a very real threat to public health and economic growth in China. Integrating and balancing large quantities of variable, renewable energy onto the grid is not just an environmentalist’s wish in China—it is an economic imperative for the country.

Duke’s hunting for opportunities...

http://naatbatt.org/naatbatt-blog/a-marshall-plan-to-build-a-smart-grid-in-china/