The Construction Of The Yarlung Zangbo River Hydropower Station Has Begun. Will The Photovoltaic Industry Be in A Worse Situation?

Recently, the news of the start of the hydropower project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River has swept the entire network. This super project with a total investment of 1.2 trillion yuan and a scale equivalent to 3 Three Gorges Hydropower Stations is undoubtedly a blockbuster in the energy field.

As soon as the news came out, many people began to worry about the photovoltaic industry. After all, hydropower and PV are both clean energy, which inevitably makes people think that "competitors are enemies". So the question is, will the construction of the Yarlung Zangbo River Hydropower Station really put the photovoltaic industry in a more passive situation?

At first glance, hydropower seems to have an absolute advantage in price. The on-grid electricity price of the Yarlung Zangbo River Hydropower Station is expected to be around US$0.035/kWh, while the cost of photovoltaic power generation is generally high, which makes PV seem to be at a disadvantage in price competition.

But don't rush to sentence PV to "death". The low price advantage of hydropower is not impeccable. Huge amounts of money are needed in the early stages of hydropower construction, from dam construction to transmission line laying, and every step is "burning money". The total investment of 1.2 trillion yuan in the Yarlung Zangbo River Hydropower Station is the best example. In contrast, although the construction cost of photovoltaic projects is not low, they are more flexible and can be large or small. Moreover, with the continuous advancement of technology, the cost of photovoltaic power generation is also continuing to decline. Just like ten years ago, who would have thought that the price of photovoltaic modules could be cut in half and cut in half again? Maybe one day, the cost of PV will be able to "reverse" and compete with hydropower.

The Yarlung Zangbo River Hydropower Station is expected to generate more than 300 billion kWh of electricity each year. This huge amount of electricity supply will indeed ease the pressure on the country's electricity supply to a certain extent. But this does not mean that PV will be "squeezed out". Don't forget that photovoltaic power generation has unique advantages - it is widely distributed and close to the user end. In some remote areas, laying hydropower transmission lines is costly and difficult, while PV can be installed locally using local materials and "inserting into every available space" to provide electricity to the local area. Moreover, solar energy is an inexhaustible source of energy. As long as there is sunshine, there is the possibility of photovoltaic power generation. In the long run, PV still have an irreplaceable position in the energy supply system, and can completely "keep out of the way" with hydropower, each doing its own job and jointly "adding bricks and tiles" to energy supply.

In fact, hydropower and PV are not only tit-for-tat, they can completely "turn hostility into friendship" and embark on the road of coordinated development. The Tibetan region where the Yarlung Zangbo River Hydropower Station is located happens to be a place with extremely rich solar energy resources. Hydropower has the characteristics of stable and continuous power generation, while PV have high power generation efficiency when there is sufficient sunshine during the day. The combination of the two forms a "water-light complementary" power generation mode, which is simply a "match made in heaven".

During the day, photovoltaic power plants "capture" sunlight to generate electricity; at night or on cloudy days, hydropower plants take over to ensure the stability of power supply. This complementary model can not only improve energy utilization efficiency, but also reduce the peak load pressure of the power grid, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone. Maybe in the future, we can see the beautiful scene of hydropower and photovoltaic power plants "hand in hand" and jointly contribute to energy transformation.

Some people worry that the construction of the Yarlung Zangbo River hydropower station will change the layout of high-power-consuming industries such as polysilicon, which will in turn affect the photovoltaic industry. Indeed, the commissioning of hydropower stations may reduce electricity prices in surrounding areas and attract some high-power-consuming industries to gather. But from another perspective, this also brings new opportunities for the photovoltaic industry. On the one hand, the reduction in electricity prices will help reduce the production costs of photovoltaic manufacturers and improve product competitiveness; on the other hand, industrial agglomeration will form economies of scale, promote technological innovation and talent flow, and have a positive role in promoting the development of the entire photovoltaic industry chain. Maybe the photovoltaic industry can take advantage of this opportunity to usher in a new round of "explosion".

Therefore, although the construction of the Yarlung Zangbo River hydropower station has brought about tremendous changes to the energy landscape, it does not mean that the photovoltaic industry will be hit hard again. In this wave of energy transformation, hydropower and PV have their own advantages. They have both competition and room for cooperation. The future energy stage may be a world where hydropower, PV, wind power and other clean energy shine together.