The integrated multi energy complementary model of water, wind, solar and storage provides a new paradigm for global green development

As a key path for global energy transformation, the integrated development of water, wind, solar and energy storage is not only an important lever to implement the "dual carbon" goal, but also a strategic choice to promote energy security, ecological protection and coordinated economic development.

On May 18th, at the 28th General Assembly and 93rd Annual Meeting of the International Commission on Large Dams, experts and scholars at home and abroad focused on the construction of integrated water, wind, solar and storage bases from multiple dimensions of policy, technology and practice, jointly discussing the practical significance and development direction of this strategy, injecting new wisdom and momentum into the global energy transformation and sustainable development.

A billion level feat in a giant watershed

The integration of water, wind, and solar energy storage is an innovative practice that complements multiple energy sources. Wang Xiaogang, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the China Society of Dam Engineering, pointed out that its core lies in coordinating the spatial and temporal complementarity of resources such as hydropower, wind power, and photovoltaics, building a high proportion of renewable energy system, and through integrated development of flow fields, relying on the regulating ability of hydropower pumped storage, it can stabilize the volatility of wind and solar power generation and improve the overall application efficiency of clean energy.

China has abundant renewable energy resources such as water, wind, and solar energy, with superior development conditions and significant technological and economic complementarity. This feature is particularly prominent in Sichuan Province. At the seminar, Deng Chao, Director of Sichuan Energy Bureau, presented Sichuan's strength with a set of data: as of the end of 2024, clean energy installed capacity accounts for about 85% of Sichuan's total electricity installed capacity, of which hydropower installed capacity accounts for about 71%, wind power installed capacity accounts for about 6%, and solar power installed capacity accounts for about 8%.

As one of the provinces in China with the richest clean energy resources, Deng Chao revealed that in order to promote the transformation of energy development from single projects to system integration, Sichuan plans to build four integrated water, wind, and solar energy storage bases in the upper and lower reaches of the Jinsha River, the Yalong River basin, and the middle and upper reaches of the Dadu River. Among them, the practice of integrated water, wind, and solar energy development in the Yalong River basin is more effective.

As one of the nine clean energy bases specified in the national "14th Five Year Plan", the Yalong River Basin Water Wind Solar Integrated Base has a planned scale of 78 million kilowatts in this stage. After completion in 2035, it can contribute about 200 billion kilowatt hours of green electricity annually. With further implementation of resource conditions, the Yalong River Base will be the world's largest water wind solar complementary base.

At present, the base has put into operation nearly 21 million kilowatts of clean energy installed capacity, about 13.4 million kilowatts of installed capacity under construction, and a cumulative power generation of over 1.1 trillion kilowatt hours. The Jinsu ultra-high voltage direct current transmission project, starting from Jinping and Guandi hydropower stations, has transmitted over 430 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, making it the line with the highest transmission capacity and most outstanding benefits of the 'West East Power Transmission', "said Sun Wenliang, Chairman of the Yalong River Basin Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. of China Investment Group.

The reporter learned at the seminar that currently in the Yalong River Basin, the Kala Hydropower Station, Mengdigou Hydropower Station, and the Root First level Hydropower Station have been approved for construction and are expected to contribute incremental capacity around 2030, with a total installed capacity of 3.72 million kilowatts; The Lianghekou Pumped Storage Power Station has been approved for construction, while the Daofu Pumped Storage Power Station and Yanyuan Pumped Storage Power Station have been approved, with a total installed capacity of 4.9 million kilowatts; There are also five new energy projects with a total capacity of 4.77 million kilowatts under construction, with an expected production of 3.37 million kilowatts this year.

Xu Weilin, an academician of the CAE Member, pointed out that the wind and light resources in the middle and lower reaches of the Yalong River basin in summer and autumn are complementary to each other in terms of their spatial and temporal distribution. Although there are 78 million kilowatts of clean energy planned for the Yalong River Basin at present, in terms of comprehensive resource reserves and development feasibility, it will be expanded to a scale of billions of kilowatts in the future.

Multi energy collaborative intelligent creation for the future

Although China has laid out a number of integrated water, landscape and storage bases in Yalong River, Jinsha River, Dadu River and other basins, with the expansion of development scale and the improvement of technical complexity, this model also faces multiple challenges.

Wang Xiaogang pointed out that the technologies of joint scheduling, intelligent operation and maintenance, safe and stable operation of water, wind and solar systems have not been fully breakthrough, and market-oriented supporting policies such as the utilization rate of power transmission channels and cross regional power trading rules urgently need to be improved. He called for promoting the deep collaborative development of industry, academia, and research, and jointly building a joint innovation platform.

The joint innovation center established by Guotou Group Yalong River Basin Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. and Huawei Digital Energy Technology Co., Ltd., as well as the joint innovation center of the clean energy base led by Huawei Digital Energy, are driven by the dual wheels of "technology research and development+industrial landing", providing replicable experience for the construction of global water and wind bases.

Huawei Digital Energy Joint Innovation CTO Mo Qun introduced that in recent years, China's new energy has entered an orderly development stage from a high-speed development stage, and has also entered an active period of joint innovation. The establishment of the Joint Innovation Center is to coordinate multiple resources for technological innovation, business model innovation, and solution innovation to address the challenges faced by the industry's development. At present, the Joint Innovation Center focuses on the clean energy base and is carrying out system level and industry level innovation planning around the challenges of new energy power transmission and operation and maintenance.

The integrated development of water, wind, and solar power will inevitably face challenges such as wind and solar power fluctuations on the power side, water electricity coupling, and grid channel constraints. Academician Xu Weilin believes that for the billion kilowatt Yalong River Basin, this challenge is even more prominent.

From the perspective of power supply, the Yalong River Basin has a large overall scale and a high proportion of wind and solar power. From the perspective of power grid, the seven hydropower stations that have been put into operation in the Yalong River Basin belong to national, grid, and provincial power dispatching. In this situation, it is not only necessary to ensure the supply and consumption of clean energy, but also to ensure the safety and stability of the system. The difficulty is self-evident, "Xu Weilin further explained.

To address the challenges faced by the integrated water, wind, solar, and energy storage systems in giant watersheds, including operational regulation, grid integration, source network interaction, and energy water coordination, Xu Weilin suggests proposing analysis methods for the spatiotemporal characteristics of multi energy complementarity, methods for cluster partitioning and flexible complementarity capability evaluation, establishing technologies for hierarchical aggregation and collaborative operation, and intelligent optimization scheduling for integrated system complementarity coordination.

In order to further develop the national integrated water, wind, solar and energy storage base, Sun Wenliang proposed initiatives to do a good job in integrated resource allocation, strengthen integrated planning and layout, promote integrated development and construction, explore integrated joint scheduling, and carry out integrated market consumption. At the same time, it is suggested to deepen the understanding of the positioning of the power side pumped storage function and improve supporting policies, vigorously promote the research and application of intelligent construction, operation technology related to the integrated development of water, wind, solar and energy, and deepen strategic cooperation with high-quality units at home and abroad.

The integration of water, wind, solar and energy storage is not only a technological path, but also a profound energy revolution. From top-level policy design to micro level technological innovation, from the Yalong River practice to nationwide promotion, China is using systematic thinking to solve the problem of energy transformation. In the future, with the further promotion of intelligence, marketization and internationalization, this model is expected to become the "China plan" for global energy green transformation, providing a new paradigm for human sustainable development.