China will develop a renewable energy micro-power grid, to further promote the sustainable development of energy resources, according to the National Energy Administration on Wednesday. Micro-power, the opposite of large power stations, refers to electricity sources that are small, mass producible, quick to deploy, cost competitive and rapidly scalable.

The micro-power grid is an innovative approach to energy saving and emission reduction, according to guidelines released by the National Energy Administration.

The guidelines listed specific requirements on the technological and operational management of micro power.

New energy micro-power grid should make use of a mix of various renewable sources such as wind, solar, natural gas and geothermal sources.

The guidelines acknowledged recent developments in research on technology and application of new energy micro-power grid, adding that this gave them the ability to build test projects.

Micro-power operation releases little carbon, and allows all kinds of groups including individuals to generate power, which could encourage competition in power generating industry.