A Critical Analysis of the Impact of Pandemic on China’s Electricity Usage Patterns and the Global Development of Renewable Energy

Bibliographic Data

ID15475617
AuthorsMuhammad Shahid Mastoi (0000-0003-4752-949X, Southwest Jiaotong University), Hafiz Mudassir Munir (0000-0001-9345-4762, Sukkur IBA University, corresponding author), Shenxian Zhuang (Southwest Jiaotong University), Mannan Hassan (0000-0001-8256-8449, Southwest Jiaotong University), Muhammad Usman (0000-0002-6131-2118, Southwest Jiaotong University), Muhammad Arslan Usman (0000-0002-6440-4595, Southwest Jiaotong University), Ahmad Aziz Alahmadi (0000-0002-1996-7671, Taif University), Basem Alamri (0000-0002-8667-0042, Taif University)
Year2022
Volume19
Issue8
Pages4608-4608
Publication date2022-04-11
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph19084608
PMID35457478
OpenAlexW4223420301
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited49

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted economic activity in numerous sectors due to multiple forms of disruption, including border closures, a stay-at-home policy, and social isolation; the electricity consumption trends in this region will undoubtedly improve. This article examines the impact of COVID-19 on electricity generation and consumption in China during the first two quarters (Q1-Q2) of 2020 and 2021. Furthermore, several governments' perspectives on COVID-19's implications for renewable energy development, notably offshore wind power and solar photovoltaics (PV), were examined. Results of this article show that COVID-19 impacts the power industry. According to the analysis, during the first two quarters of 2020, the amount of electricity generated and consumed by China decreased by 1.4 and 1.3 percent, respectively, the capacity of the power plants increased by 5.3 GW and coal consumption dropped by 3.6 g/kWh. Investments in the power generation sector increased by 51.5 billion yuan and investment in the power grid grew by 0.7 billion. Additionally, new generation capacity decreased by 378 GW during the first two quarters of 2020. During the first two quarters of 2021, electricity consumption and production grew by 13.7 and 16.2 percent, respectively. Power plants' capacity increased by 9.5 GW, while coal consumption for power supply fell by 0.8 g/kWh. The investment in power generation projects increased by 8.9 billion, while investment in power grid projects increased by 4.7 billion. Compared to last year's same period, 14.92 GW of new capacity was installed. Due to lockdown measures, such as studying at home or working at home, domestic power use in the first two quarters of 2020-2021 increased by 6.6 and 4.5 percent, respectively. To minimize COVID-19's impact on renewable energy development and assist in building offshore wind power plants, economic and financial measures have been put in place to reduce the epidemic's effect on solar PV systems

Agricultural economics · Business · China · Consumption (sociology · Distributed generation · Economics · Electricity · Electricity generation · Geography · Grid parity · Investment (military · Mains electricity · Nameplate capacity · Natural resource economics · Political science · Power (physics · Renewable energy · Solar Power · COVID-19 impact on air quality · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Energy and Environment Impacts · Engineering

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access