Fast Development of Chinese Power Industry and Its Impacts on Power System R&D

The rapid growth of Chinese economy leads to fast development of electric power industry, which greatly promotes higher education on electrical engineering and the research and development (R&D) on power systems in China. In the meantime, the Ministry of Science & Technology of China (MSTC) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) play an important role in planning and supporting key and basic research projects on critical issues in power industry. In this paper the rapid growth of Chinese power industry is outlined. The NSFC sponsorship on power system relevant R&D is presented. And the higher education on electrical engineering is introduced. The Shenzhen RI of National Key Lab on Power Systems, jointly run by Tsinghua University and the University of Hong Kong located at Tsinghua University Graduate School at Shenzhen, is used as an example to show the impacts of fast development of Chinese power industry on power system R&D in China. The R&D output in China is then shown through paper publications. Finally the issues in power system R&D in China are discussed.