Reference News Network, September 15 report - According to the website of the UK's Financial Times on September 12, in February this year, the International Energy Agency openly outlined the serious challenges facing the global power system. To meet the growing global electricity demand and achieve emission reduction targets, global annual investments in power transmission would need to more than double, from $140 billion in 2023 to $300 billion in the mid-2030s.

According to the report, IEA analysts said: "Over the past decade, about 1.5 million kilometers of new transmission lines were built globally, but insufficient transmission capacity remains a constraint for the development of the power system and energy security."

The analysts said that China's power equipment and hardware suppliers are large in scale and the industry is booming, presenting opportunities for China in the face of the challenges faced by global transmission systems.

It seems to support the IEA's view, at the end of April this year, Spain experienced a blackout, affecting everything from communications, the internet, business, to railway systems, and neighboring Portugal was also affected.

For governments around the world, this blackout highlighted the necessity of addressing the issue of insufficient grid investment.

This is not only a necessary step to address the rising demand for electricity from artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and data centers, but also an essential path to adapt to changes in the power generation structure. The power generation model is shifting from traditional power systems powered by large fossil fuel plants to dynamic systems relying more on solar and wind energy.

Global grid modernization is urgently needed, with upgrades required from utility poles to transmission lines to power dispatch software, highlighting the potential necessity of close cooperation with Chinese manufacturers. Chinese manufacturers find themselves at the forefront of an industry plagued by supply shortages.

Alicia Garcia, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis Bank, said that the Iberian Peninsula blackout was "just the tip of the iceberg," and the condition of Spain's grid was not the worst compared to other European countries.

Garcia added that due to Western manufacturers' inability to meet demand, China is now ready to turn power equipment into a "profitable export market."

Liao Qihua, head of China renewable energy, utilities, and energy research at UBS, said that the supply of gas turbines and large power transformers faces "severe" bottlenecks globally.

The International Energy Agency pointed out that the delivery time for DC cables used in long-distance transmission lines exceeds five years, and cable prices have nearly doubled since 2019. In its report released in February, the agency stated that the combination of rising component costs, extended delivery times, and a large backlog of orders has led to increased project costs and delays.

UBS analysts are optimistic that a group of Chinese manufacturers will benefit from strong export growth, including major producers of turbines, transformers, and other power equipment.

Experts at Langtang Group, David Fishman, believe that Chinese power equipment manufacturers will be able to overcome current capacity shortages and meet the growing global demand.

He added, "As long as intellectual property belongs to China, and the obstacle lies in scaling up, it's not really an obstacle, because China is very good at doing that."

Garcia of Natixis Bank expects that although the growing reliance on China may spark controversy in some countries, ultimately, countries must prioritize strengthening their own power systems.

She said, "The grid is too important; just look at what happened in Spain." (Translated by Hu Guanghe)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7550189307894563362/

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