尽管风电和太阳能装机容量持续增长，中国新能源电力浪费现象却在恶化。[1]根据报告，2016年近50亿千瓦时风电被弃用，占风电总发电量的17%，较上年上升2个百分点。[1]西北地区约20%的太阳能电力也遭浪费。[1]
新能源发电能力的扩张与利用率的下滑形成鲜明对比。[1]煤炭约占能源消费结构的72%，而风电和太阳能仅占能源生产总体的4.9%。[1]中国工程院院士刘吉臻指出，新能源电力浪费是风资源分布不均和电网系统不完善的结果，并建议应该建造更多输电线路以更好地利用发电。[1]为扭转局面，有建议称新能源项目不应在弃风率超10%或弃光率超5%的地区获批。[1]
China's wind and solar capacity continued to expand in 2016, yet the problem of curtailed power generation intensified, according to a report. Nearly 5 billion kilowatt-hours of wind power went unused, representing 17% of total wind electricity generation—a 2 percentage point increase from the previous year [1]. In northwestern regions, approximately 20% of solar power was wasted [1].
The root causes of this inefficiency stem from uneven distribution of wind resources and inadequate grid infrastructure, including insufficient transmission and distribution facilities [1]. Despite these challenges, coal remains the dominant energy source, accounting for approximately 72% of energy consumption [1], while wind and solar together comprise only 4.9% of total energy production [1]. According to Liu Jizhen, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, "the waste of new energy power results from uneven wind resource distribution and imperfect power grid systems; more transmission lines should be constructed to better utilize generation capacity" [1].
To address the issue, the report recommends that new energy projects should not be approved in regions where wind power curtailment exceeds 10% or solar curtailment surpasses 5% [1].