Qinghai province, which is found in northwest China, showed that it is indeed possible for their region to run on 100% renewable energy. According to Xinhua News Agency, for seven continuous days, the region with over 5 million citizens inhabiting the place survived on 100 percent renewable energy.
This project was part of a trial that was conducted by the State Grid Corporation of China, to show that future energy needs don’t need to be powered by fossil fuels anymore. The trial was conducted from June 17th to 23rd, 2017, and the province was able to generate sufficient power that was needed by its 5.2 million residents from renewable energy sources namely: Solar, wind and hydro power.
Source: Inhabitat
Quan Shenming, the general manager of Qinghai Electric Power Corporation, a subsidiary of State Grid Corporation said in a press statement that “Being the first trial of this kind in the country and a major step in the transformation of energy supply, it will be of great importance in promoting the use of clean energy in China in a sustainable and effective way,”
The electricity use which amounted to a total of 1.1 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) during the trial week, would have required about 535,000 tonnes of coal. In the total amount of electricity generated, hydropower contributed to around 72.3 percent, while the other energy sources like wind and solar contributed to the rest.
According to Science Alert, the figures haven’t been verified yet. But once it is confirmed, the Qinghai trial supports the intention that the grid is capable of remaining stable without the need for coal and gas to supply “base load” energy. Companies in Quinghai didn’t even experience any power fluctuation during the trial. The province is already relying heavily on renewables and is ready for a future that is grounded on green energy.
The province’s power grid has a total installed capacity of 23.4 million kW, wherein 83.8 percent of that power is generated from solar, wind and hydro power. Despite these amazing statistics, the province is still continuing to improve what they currently have.
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