China Township Electrification Program
Encyclopedia
The China Township Electrification Program (Song Dian Dao Xiang) was a scheme to provide renewable electricity
to 1.3 million people (around 200,000 households) in 1,000 townships in the Chinese
provinces of Gansu
, Hunan
, Inner Mongolia
, Shaanxi
, Sichuan
, Yunnan
, Xinjiang
, Qinghai
and Tibet.
The program, one of the world's largest renewable energy rural electrification
programs, used a mixture of small hydro
, photovoltaics
and wind power
. It was launched in 2001 by the State Development Planning Commission (now the National Development and Reform Commission
) and was completed in 2005.
The program is being succeeded by a similar but larger China Village Electrification Program
which will bring renewable electricity to 3.5 million households in 10,000 villages by 2010, to be followed by full rural electrification by 2015. China is committed to generating 10% of its electricity from renewables by 2010.
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
to 1.3 million people (around 200,000 households) in 1,000 townships in the Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
provinces of Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
, Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
, Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
, Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
and Tibet.
The program, one of the world's largest renewable energy rural electrification
Rural electrification
Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Electricity is used not only for lighting and household purposes, but it also allows for mechanization of many farming operations, such as threshing, milking, and hoisting grain for storage; in areas...
programs, used a mixture of small hydro
Small hydro
Small hydro is the development of hydroelectric power on a scale serving a small community or industrial plant. The definition of a small hydro project varies but a generating capacity of up to 10 megawatts is generally accepted as the upper limit of what can be termed small hydro. This may be...
, photovoltaics
Photovoltaics
Photovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material...
and wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
. It was launched in 2001 by the State Development Planning Commission (now the National Development and Reform Commission
National Development and Reform Commission
The National Development and Reform Commission , formerly State Planning Commission and State Development Planning Commission, is a macroeconomic management agency under the Chinese State Council, which has broad administrative and planning control over the Chinese economy...
) and was completed in 2005.
The program is being succeeded by a similar but larger China Village Electrification Program
China Village Electrification Program
The China Village Electrification Program is a scheme to provide renewable electricity to 3.5 million households in 10,000 villages by 2010. This is to be followed by full rural electrification using renewable energy by 2015....
which will bring renewable electricity to 3.5 million households in 10,000 villages by 2010, to be followed by full rural electrification by 2015. China is committed to generating 10% of its electricity from renewables by 2010.
See also
- Township (People's Republic of China)
- Energy policy of ChinaEnergy policy of ChinaThe energy policy of the People's Republic of China is a policy decided on by the Central Government with regard to energy and energy resources. The country is currently the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases according to a Dutch research agency. However, China's per capita emissions are...
- Distributed generationDistributed generationDistributed generation, also called on-site generation, dispersed generation, embedded generation, decentralized generation, decentralized energy or distributed energy, generates electricity from many small energy sources....
- MicrogenerationMicrogenerationMicrogeneration is the small-scale generation of heat and power by individuals, small businesses and communities to meet their own needs, as alternatives or supplements to traditional centralized grid-connected power...
- China Village Electrification ProgramChina Village Electrification ProgramThe China Village Electrification Program is a scheme to provide renewable electricity to 3.5 million households in 10,000 villages by 2010. This is to be followed by full rural electrification using renewable energy by 2015....
External links
- NREL: Sending Electricity to Townships
- NREL: Efficient System Design and Sustainable Finance for China’s Village Electrification Program
- other National Renewable Energy Laboratory publications
- The Renewable Energy Law (text)
In the media
- March 9, 2005, RenewableEnergyAccess.com: China Passes Renewable Energy Law