This means that China will fully realize the deep low-carbon transformation in the fields of energy and economy in the next decade. In order to realize the deep low-carbon transformation, we must fundamentally solve the contradiction between renewable energy and traditional coal power in the power system. The 13th five year plan for energy development clearly puts forward that China's energy system should actively transform towards clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient. By the end of 2019, the national non fossil energy power generation was 2.39 trillion kwh, accounting for 32.6% of the national power generation. It is half way to achieve the goal of 50% non fossil energy power generation in 2030. Even under the pressure of COVID-19 in 2020, the central government did not relax the determination of green recovery and transformation. In the first half of this year, wind power and photovoltaic power generation increased by 6.8% and 9.1% respectively. While the 13th five year plan renewable energy installation target has been achieved ahead of schedule, in June this year, the national development and Reform Commission and the energy administration further raised the target, and it is planned that the installed capacity of wind power and photovoltaic power generation will reach about 240 GW this year. However, the current green and low-carbon transformation of "unlimited scenery" also puts forward higher requirements for the flexibility and regulation ability of the traditional power system, that is, how to economically call all kinds of flexible resources to maintain the dynamic balance of power supply and demand and deal with the volatility and uncertainty of the power system. At present, the flexibility of China's coal-fired power system is seriously insufficient. The rigidity of the power system leads to the problem of abandoning wind and light. How to position the coal-fired power in the medium and long-term low-carbon transformation of energy will become the key. Coal power industry should adjust for the goal of "carbon neutralization" | Li Danqing, the author is the director of Greenpeace climate and energy project, cover article cover story028 energy 2020.11 inengyuan Com 029 now. From 2011 to 2019, China's wind and light abandonment rates were as high as 17.1% and 10.5%, resulting in a waste of power generation resources. From 2016 to 2018, the total amount of wind and light power abandoned in China was 138.9 billion kwh, equivalent to the power generation of about 30 million KW coal-fired power plants. It can be seen that, on the one hand, the development of renewable energy is accelerating steadily towards the national medium and long-term energy strategic goal of "50% of power generation from non fossil energy sources by 2030"; On the other hand, when the national non fossil energy power generation accounts for 32.6%, it has been generally faced with problems such as grid connection, consumption and dispatching, which shows that China's coal-fired power system is not ready for the transformation of effective access to renewable energy. Facing the new era of high proportion renewable energy development, how to position coal power in the medium and long-term low-carbon energy transformation will become the key. Insufficient capacity of flexible regulation of power supply: 15% ideal state v.s 6% realistic bottleneck although policies such as investment monitoring and early warning mechanism of renewable energy projects, full guaranteed acquisition and renewable energy power trading have significantly improved the phenomenon of wind and light abandonment in 2019, with the gradual increase of the proportion of renewable energy output, the fluctuation of system net load increases, In the future, relying solely on the regulation capacity and regulation capacity of thermal power and pumped storage can not meet the flexibility requirements of safe operation of the system. There is a mismatch between the existing power system and the development of high proportion of renewable energy, and the problem of insufficient flexibility of power system restricting the consumption of renewable energy has not been fundamentally solved. The research on flexible operation policy of coal-fired power units issued by China Electricity Council in December 2019 also points out the current situation of insufficient regulation capacity of China's power system. In terms of "flexible power supply installed in North China" and "flexible power generation installed in Spain", the proportion of "gas turbine" and "flexible power generation installed in North China" accounts for 72%, while the proportion of "flexible power generation installed in Europe and the United States" is higher than that of "gas turbine" and "flexible power generation installed in the United States", accounting for 61% respectively The ratios are 34%, 18% and 49% respectively. " Huang Qili, academician of the Chinese Academy of engineering, also pointed out in an interview with reporters earlier that in the power system, the flexible peak shaving power supply should reach at least 10% - 15% of the total installed capacity. Considering the fact that China's flexible power supply accounts for less than 6%, the lack of power system regulation capacity has become one of the main bottlenecks in China's energy transformation. Especially under the new situation of sustained and rapid development of renewable energy, it is urgent to significantly improve the regulation capacity of power system. In order to improve the regulation capacity of the system, enhance the flexibility and adaptability of the system and solve the problem of new energy consumption, the 13th five year plan for power development clearly puts forward to comprehensively promote the flexibility transformation of coal motor units. During the 13th Five Year Plan period, it is planned to complete the flexibility transformation goal of 220 million KW coal motor units. However, according to the 2020 new energy development report of the State Grid Corporation of China released by the State Grid in May this year, by the end of 2019, China has promoted the completion of coal power flexibility transformation of about 57.75 million KW, and the completion degree of transformation is only about 1 / 4 of the transformation goal of the 13th five year plan. There are limitations in the flexibility of coal-fired power, which can not achieve the development of high proportion of renewable energy. In addition to the slow transformation progress, due to the limitation of the power generation technology of coal-fired power units, there is a bottleneck in their minimum output level. Although the minimum stable output of coal-fired power units can be reduced to 20% ~ 30% of the rated capacity through technical transformation such as thermoelectric decoupling and low-pressure stable combustion, the response time of increasing and decreasing output is long and the climbing speed is slow, which is difficult to fully meet the needs of system flexibility. At the same time, low load operation and frequent start and stop also increase the loss of coal-fired power units, reduce the service life of units and increase the operation cost. When the coal-fired power unit operates under low load, it will also increase the emission of nitrogen oxides and cause environmental impact. These negative effects will limit the long-term role of the flexible transformation of coal motor units, and even raise the overall power supply cost of the power system, which is not conducive to the low-carbon transformation of the power system. Jiang Liping, vice president of State Grid Energy Research Institute Co., Ltd., also mentioned in an interview earlier that after the coal power flexibility transformation, the unit operates outside the design working condition for a long time, the unit energy efficiency is reduced, the coal consumption rate is increased, and the mechanical damage caused by frequent startup and shutdown is increased, so the cost of technical transformation is huge. At the same time, in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, China must develop a high proportion of renewable energy in the power system, which requires controlling the installed scale of coal-fired power and gradually eliminating coal-fired power in the power industry with the development of renewable energy, power grid and energy storage technology. At present, the flexibility regulation capacity of China's power system dominated by coal power is seriously insufficient, which can not adapt to the increasing trend of the installed proportion of renewable energy in the future, which limits the output of renewable energy. In the medium and long term, due to the limitations of the flexibility of coal-fired power in terms of technology, cost investment and environmental impact, the continued increase of coal-fired power installation will further deteriorate the flexibility and regulation capacity of the power system, which is not conducive to the consumption of a high proportion of renewable energy, nor to China's carbon neutral emission reduction goal before 2060. The coal power industry should make adjustments for the medium and long-term energy and low-carbon transformation needs. Improving the flexibility and regulation capacity of the power system is not the only way out. The 14th five year plan should coordinate and optimize various flexible resources of "source network load storage" at the level of system planning, fully tap the potential of existing flexible resources, including increasing energy storage facilities, improving the utilization rate of existing transmission channels, and guide the load characteristics of power demand side through electricity price, so as to achieve better user side flexibility regulation and "peak shaving and valley filling" effect, Effectively support the large-scale development and utilization of renewable energy, promote the in-depth interaction of "source network load storage", ensure the efficiency and reliability of energy production, transmission and consumption, and improve the operation level of power grid, so as to create a highly flexible power system conducive to the development of medium and long-term renewable energy. The 14th five year plan is a key period to determine whether the carbon emission peak and the target of 50% of non fossil energy power generation can be achieved in 2030. In the next five years, the coal power industry should make timely adjustments, strictly control the installed scale of new coal power, and give full play to the flexibility potential of existing coal power units. While carrying out the necessary flexible transformation of existing coal-fired power units, reduce the installed proportion of coal-fired power in the power system, lay the foundation for the future power system with a high proportion of renewable energy, and support China's medium and long-term low-carbon energy transformation process and efforts to deal with climate change. Cover story 028 energy 2020.11inengyuan Com 029 now. From 2011 to 2019, China's wind and light abandonment rates were as high as 17.1% and 10.5%, resulting in a waste of power generation resources. From 2016 to 2018, the total amount of wind and light power abandoned in China was 138.9 billion kwh, equivalent to the power generation of about 30 million KW coal-fired power plants. It can be seen that, on the one hand, the development of renewable energy is accelerating steadily towards the national medium and long-term energy strategic goal of "50% of power generation from non fossil energy sources by 2030"; On the other hand, when the national non fossil energy power generation accounts for 32.6%, it has been generally faced with problems such as grid connection, consumption and dispatching, which shows that China's coal-fired power system is not ready for the transformation of effective access to renewable energy. Facing the new era of high proportion renewable energy development, how to position coal power in the medium and long-term low-carbon energy transformation will become the key. Insufficient capacity of flexible regulation of power supply: 15% ideal state v.s 6% realistic bottleneck although policies such as investment monitoring and early warning mechanism of renewable energy projects, full guaranteed acquisition and renewable energy power trading have significantly improved the phenomenon of wind and light abandonment in 2019, with the gradual increase of the proportion of renewable energy output, the fluctuation of system net load increases, In the future, relying solely on the regulation capacity and regulation capacity of thermal power and pumped storage can not meet the flexibility requirements of safe operation of the system. There is a mismatch between the existing power system and the development of high proportion of renewable energy, and the problem of insufficient flexibility of power system restricting the consumption of renewable energy has not been fundamentally solved. The research on flexible operation policy of coal-fired power units issued by China Electricity Council in December 2019 also points out the current situation of insufficient regulation capacity of China's power system. "China's installed power generation is dominated by coal-fired power, with less than 6% of the installed capacity of flexible power sources such as pumped storage and gas-fired power generation. The 'Three North' region is rich in new energy, with 72% and 61% of the installed capacity of wind power and solar power respectively, but the flexible power supply is less than 3% and the regulation capacity is insufficient. In comparison, the proportion of flexible power sources in Europe and the United States is higher, with Spain, Germany and the United States accounting for 20% The ratios are 34%, 18% and 49% respectively. " Huang Qili, academician of the Chinese Academy of engineering, also pointed out in an interview with reporters earlier that in the power system, the flexible peak shaving power supply should reach at least 10% - 15% of the total installed capacity. Considering the fact that China's flexible power supply accounts for less than 6%, the lack of power system regulation capacity has become one of the main bottlenecks in China's energy transformation. Especially under the new situation of sustained and rapid development of renewable energy, it is urgent to significantly improve the regulation capacity of power system. In order to improve the regulation capacity of the system, enhance the flexibility and adaptability of the system and solve the problem of new energy consumption, the 13th five year plan for power development clearly puts forward to comprehensively promote the flexibility transformation of coal motor units. During the 13th Five Year Plan period, it is planned to complete the flexibility transformation goal of 220 million KW coal motor units. However, according to the 2020 new energy development report of the State Grid Corporation of China released by the State Grid in May this year, by the end of 2019, China has promoted the completion of coal power flexibility transformation of about 57.75 million KW, and the completion degree of transformation is only about 1 / 4 of the transformation goal of the 13th five year plan. There are limitations in the flexibility of coal-fired power, which can not achieve the development of high proportion of renewable energy. In addition to the slow transformation progress, due to the limitation of the power generation technology of coal-fired power units, there is a bottleneck in their minimum output level. Although the minimum stable output of coal-fired power units can be reduced to 20% ~ 30% of the rated capacity through technical transformation such as thermoelectric decoupling and low-pressure stable combustion, the response time of increasing and decreasing output is long and the climbing speed is slow, which is difficult to fully meet the needs of system flexibility. At the same time, low load operation and frequent start and stop also increase the loss of coal-fired power units, reduce the service life of units and increase the operation cost. When the coal-fired power unit operates under low load, it will also increase the emission of nitrogen oxides and cause environmental impact. These negative effects will limit the long-term role of the flexible transformation of coal motor units, and even raise the overall power supply cost of the power system, which is not conducive to the low-carbon transformation of the power system. Jiang Liping, vice president of State Grid Energy Research Institute Co., Ltd., also mentioned in an interview earlier that after the coal power flexibility transformation, the unit operates outside the design working condition for a long time, the unit energy efficiency is reduced, the coal consumption rate is increased, and the mechanical damage caused by frequent startup and shutdown is increased, so the cost of technical transformation is huge. At the same time, in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, China must develop a high proportion of renewable energy in the power system, which requires controlling the installed scale of coal-fired power and gradually eliminating coal-fired power in the power industry with the development of renewable energy, power grid and energy storage technology. At present, the flexibility regulation capacity of China's power system dominated by coal power is seriously insufficient, which can not adapt to the increasing trend of the installed proportion of renewable energy in the future, which limits the output of renewable energy. In the medium and long term, due to the limitations of the flexibility of coal-fired power in terms of technology, cost investment and environmental impact, the continued increase of coal-fired power installation will further deteriorate the flexibility and regulation capacity of the power system, which is not conducive to the consumption of a high proportion of renewable energy, nor to China's carbon neutral emission reduction goal before 2060. The coal power industry should make adjustments for the medium and long-term energy and low-carbon transformation needs. Improving the flexibility and regulation capacity of the power system is not the only way out. The 14th five year plan should coordinate and optimize various flexible resources of "source network load storage" at the level of system planning, fully tap the potential of existing flexible resources, including increasing energy storage facilities, improving the utilization rate of existing transmission channels, and guide the load characteristics of power demand side through electricity price, so as to achieve better user side flexibility regulation and "peak shaving and valley filling" effect, Effectively support the large-scale development and utilization of renewable energy, promote the in-depth interaction of "source network load storage", ensure the efficiency and reliability of energy production, transmission and consumption, and improve the operation level of power grid, so as to create a highly flexible power system conducive to the development of medium and long-term renewable energy. The 14th five year plan is a key period to determine whether the carbon emission peak and the target of 50% of non fossil energy power generation can be achieved in 2030. In the next five years, the coal power industry should make timely adjustments, strictly control the installed scale of new coal power, and give full play to the flexibility potential of existing coal power units. While carrying out the necessary flexible transformation of existing coal-fired power units, reduce the installed proportion of coal-fired power in the power system, lay the foundation for the future power system with a high proportion of renewable energy, and support China's medium and long-term low-carbon energy transformation process and efforts to deal with climate change.