How to make better use of intermittent and variable energy? A review of wind and photovoltaic power consumption in China

China has become the world's largest clean energy country in terms of the total installation of wind and photovoltaic power and annual newly installed capacity. However, weather conditions render renewable energy unstable, thereby restricting its application to a power grid; reducing the randomness in wind or photovoltaic power is the major challenge of the utilization of solar and wind energy. This paper systematically reviews the explorations and the practices related to wind and photovoltaic power consumption in China. Considering the difference in the methods of supplementing the variable and intermittent output of wind and PV power, five consumption modes are outlined: distributed energy microgrid absorption, power grid peak shaving operation consumption, wind-photovoltaic-storage consumption, wind-photovoltaic-thermal complementation, and wind-photovoltaic-hydro complementation. The theories, features, current situation and growing trends of each mode are analyzed. Finally, several suggestions, including promoting multi-energy complementary microgrid application and installing large-scale pumped storage hydropower, are provided for improving the efficiency of renewable energy development in China.