Located on China’s southeast coast, Fujian had a GDP of $387bn in 2014, up 7.8% from 2013.
In March 2014, China’s State Council announced plans to make Fujian a pilot “eco-province”. Its main proposition: reduce Fujian’s energy intensity to 20% below the overall national average. The Council also set an implementation goal of having non-fossil fuel consumption vs. primary energy consumption reach 6% higher than national average (11.4% stated in China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development) by year-end 2015. Achieving the that goal would meaneco-province goals will mean shifting Fujian’s current power matrix away from a current heavy thermal and hydro reliance toward a more balanced share of thermal, hydro, nuclear and renewables.
By the end of 2014, Fujian’s total installed power capacity was 44.5GW, with just under 40% or 17.6GW represented by non-thermal sources. Wind today represents just 2% of total generation at 3,800GWh in 2014 (up from 3,600GWh in 2013). Winds are decent in the province; Fujian’s average annual wind farm capacity factor was 28.9%, more than 7% above the national average.
Fujian’s provincial 12th Five-year Energy Development Plan sets targets for wind, biomass & waste, and solar PV at 2,500MW, 400MW and 100MW, respectively by the end of 2015. Fujian will have to build additional 1,000MW of wind, zero for biomass & waste and 20MW of solar PV in 2015 to achieve the targets and clean energy power generation vs. total power supply must reach 50.7%. Meanwhile, it will result in a 17.4% of non-fossil fuel consumption vs. primary energy consumption.
Moreover, Fujian’s Ningde (2GW) and Fuqing (1GW) nuclear power plants are operating in Fujian as of year-end 2014, with nine additional units to be built in the next decade as capacity expansions to both built power plants. We expect the increase in nuclear generation will accelerate the progress of Fujian’s “eco-province” transitions.
Fujian’s 12th Five-year Plan for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission Management sets a target of cutting by 17.5% the CO2 intensity of Fujian’s economy vs. a 2010 baseline by 2015. A provincial carbon trading market in Fujian is under preliminary work and is expected to be established in 2016. Fujian’s carbon credit mechanism is also under preliminary discussion.