Ru Li, a PhD student at Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research of Beijing Institute of Technology, has been awarded a scholarship under the State Scholarship Fund to pursue study in Switzerland as a visiting student. In October 2019, she went to École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) to carry out a one-year joint-training program, which was organized under the cooperation of doctoral supervisors at home university and the host university abroad. Her foreign supervisor Philippe Thalmann is an associate professor at the EPFL School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, director of the Laboratory of Environmental and Urban Economics (LEURE). The LEURE works on sustainable development and environmental and climate policies. The laboratory’s objectives are in line with the interdisciplinary and service tradition. LEURE gathers economists, mathematicians, political scientists and environmental engineers, who analyze and develop policies designed to better manage the natural environment.

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)

　　During her visit, Ru Li carried out research on climate and environmental policy analysis, low-carbon transition of energy systems, and modeling and optimization of energy systems. Sustainable development is challenged by the consumption of traditional fossil energy sources. Therefore, accelerating the transition to alternative energy sources has become a new trend in many countries. Electric power systems are at the core of energy system and a driving force for socioeconomic development. The electric power industry in China is responsible for about 40% of total national CO2 emissions. Due to the coal-dominated generation structure in China, the rapid growth of electricity consumption has caused serious challenges to energy security, climate change and environmental pollution. Therefore, the power industry’s transition to low-carbon development is conducive to sustainable development, facilitates the diversification of China’s energy supply structure, and is significant for adaptions to climate change. During the visiting, Ru Li focuses on systematic research on major issues during the green transition of the power system, mainly assessing its green development level, green transition potential and development pathways, foreseeing the frontiers of power generation technology development, simulating China ’s power sector green transition policies, and establishing models and policy simulation platforms with independent intellectual property rights and international influence. Based on the NET-Power model, the national carbon emission peak pathways were simulated from the perspective of the six power grid regions. Then, she discussed the impact of large-scale renewables penetration on the economics and stability of the power system under the 2026 peak scenario. The results showed that under the high penetration of renewables, both energy storage technology and UHV grid technology can coordinate the flexible operation of the power system. From the perspective of the whole system, the remote transmission mode with UHV power grid is more economical than the local consumption mode with large-scale energy storage technology. The remote transmission mode is economical for areas with scarce renewable energy (such as East China), but expensive for areas with rich renewable energy resources (such as Northwest China). Therefore, the government needs to coordinate the interests of all parties, optimize regional resource allocation, and promote coordinated development of various regions.

　　During the visiting study, Ru Li actively participated in various academic activities organized by LEURE, conducted cooperative research, studied the comprehensive assessment model of climate change developed by foreign teams, and discussed the experience of energy transition in some developed countries in the EU with foreign scholars. The experience, including the transition strategy, technology layout and policy system, provides references for the research work related to the low-carbon transition of China’s power industry.

Participate in academic activities during the visit