Options for China's grids to accommodate large-scale wind energy development

As more and more large-scale wind farms will emerge in China in the future, many technical problems that will arise in the process need careful treating. In view of China's basic national conditions of energy, China's large-scale wind energy development (LSWD) will take the mode of long-distance and large-capacity transmission. Three options for grids have been analyzed in the paper. The first option is to make the grids robust and reliable through building UHV integration passage for the LSWD. The second option is to turn the grids into the smart ones through building all-voltage level smart grids and using smart dispatch systems. The third option is to apply VSC-HVDC technology to wind farm integration. The relevant progress and current research conditions are also analyzed in the paper. A strong and smart grid is a sound platform for LSWD. Anyway; China's sustainability would not be realized without the coordinated development of wind power and grids.