STL Law & Sustainability Colloquium: Regulatory Challenges of Renewable Energy Integration in China: past, present and future

Date&Time: Monday, August 30 @2:00 PM (Beijing Time)

Zoom Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82485655238?pwd=dlIxZUdxZkJqaTZiTzk4aGY5UzNrZz09

Zoom Meeting ID: 824 8565 5238

Passcode:624025

Speaker:Hao Zhang, Assistant Professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong

Dr Hao Zhang is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr Zhang teaches energy law and Chinese law and his research interests are primarily in the fields of Chinese energy law, climate law and comparative environmental law. He is currently working on legal issues surrounding the green economic transition and the energy sector reform in China. Dr Zhang is the director of the LLM Programme in Energy and Environmental Law. He serves as an associate editor for the journal Climate Law.

ABSTRACT

To meet the policy agenda of establishing an environmentally and climate-friendly energy system, several supporting mechanisms have been introduced under China’s Renewable Energy Law. Within the context of China’s power sector reform towards a more liberalised model, a key feature of these supporting mechanisms has been increased regulation and enforcement to ensure priority access of renewable energy to the grid, in pursuit of the goals to increase the renewable energy share to 25% by 2030 and attain carbon neutrality by 2060. However, in reality, the usage of electricity generated from renewable energy in China has been significantly curtailed, as such electricity is not adequately dispatched by grid operators. To address this, the managing authorities of China’s electricity sector have implemented several regulatory measures to facilitate renewable energy integration. This seminar will discuss these regulatory measures and their implementation.