Source: National Energy Administration
Tackling the challenges of a new‑type power system to solidify the foundation of China’s energy‑strong nation.
— Interpretation of the “15th Five-Year Plan” for Building a New-Type Power System
The new‑type power system is a central pillar underpinning the new energy system and a crucial foundation for building an energy powerhouse. Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly released the “15th Five-Year Plan for Building a New‑Type Power System” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). The Plan fully implements the new energy security strategy, balances development with security, and articulates the guiding principles for China’s power sector, while setting out its key objectives and priority tasks. It serves as a programmatic document for constructing a new‑type power system and advancing high‑quality power development over the next five years and beyond.
I. The power industry will achieve leapfrog development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s power sector achieved remarkable progress. The world’s largest clean‑energy power supply system was established, with total installed generating capacity reaching 389 million kilowatts. Total electricity consumption across society reached 10.4 trillion kilowatt-hours, surpassing the combined consumption of the United States, Germany, Japan, and India, and for many years no large‑scale blackouts have occurred. Milestone breakthroughs were made in the transformation of the power mix: wind and solar capacity historically exceeded that of coal-fired power; the grid infrastructure was rapidly upgraded, creating the world’s largest and most technologically sophisticated AC/DC hybrid supergrid, forming an “electricity highway” spanning east to west and north to south; energy storage and ancillary services capacity saw a quantum leap, with new‑type storage installations exceeding 130 million kilowatts—more than 40 times the level at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan; demand‑side supply‑demand coordination improved markedly, with virtual power plants achieving a maximum adjustable capacity of 16.85 million kilowatts; and power market reforms advanced in depth, with market‑traded electricity volumes doubling compared with the 13th Five-Year Plan period, while a preliminary national unified electricity market framework has taken shape. These achievements have laid a solid foundation for promoting high‑quality development of China’s power industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
II. The Development of the Power System in the 15th Five-Year Plan Period Faces New Situations and Challenges
The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a critical phase for laying the groundwork and mounting a comprehensive effort to basically achieve socialist modernization; it is also the decisive stage for attaining the carbon‑peak target by 2030 and a crucial period for accelerating the development of a new‑type power system. Building this new‑type power system faces new circumstances and challenges, including the intertwined demands of ensuring energy security and supply, advancing a green transition, and driving reform and innovation.
First, the modes of energy production and consumption are undergoing accelerated transformation, with electricity’s pivotal role in the energy transition becoming increasingly prominent. On the supply side, the shift toward cleaner energy is steadily gaining momentum; at the end‑use level, the share of electricity in final energy consumption continues to rise, and electrification is advancing more deeply into sectors such as transportation, buildings, and industry. As a result, electricity is gradually emerging as a critical nexus that links energy production and consumption, facilitating the coordinated conversion and efficient utilization of diverse energy sources. Building a new‑type power system is not only a central component of constructing a new energy system and accelerating the green, low‑carbon transition, but also a key lever for achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in the energy sector, making it of paramount importance for the transformation of the energy system.
Second, the high-quality development of the economy and society is driving robust growth in electricity demand, while the requirements for ensuring power supply security are further increasing. With the deepening advancement of new‑type industrialization and urbanization, emerging industries and business models—such as artificial intelligence, computing infrastructure, and new‑energy vehicles—are accelerating their development, and the level of end‑use electrification continues to rise, meaning that electricity demand will remain on a relatively rapid growth trajectory. At the same time, the frequent occurrence of extreme weather events and the sustained surge in peak loads, coupled with the volatility of renewable energy output and the uncertainty of electricity demand, are placing considerable pressure on power supply reliability in certain regions and during critical periods. Meanwhile, the public is raising higher expectations for power supply reliability, ease of access to electricity, and service quality.
Third, the goals of peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality are driving the large-scale, high‑proportion development of new energy sources, placing even higher demands on the green and low‑carbon transformation of the power system. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, additional electricity demand will increasingly be met by non‑fossil fuels, with wind and solar capacity and their share of total generation continuing to rise. However, new energy output is characterized by randomness, volatility, and intermittency, leading to temporal and spatial mismatches with electricity load and posing growing challenges for grid integration. At the same time, the share of conventional synchronous generators is declining, weakening the system’s inertia, frequency and voltage regulation, and stability‑support capabilities. As a reliable replacement for conventional generation has yet to materialize, ensuring the safe and stable operation of the power system faces significant challenges.
Fourth, the technological revolution, industrial transformation, and market reforms are accelerating, presenting both opportunities and challenges. Technologies such as proactive support from new energy sources, advanced energy storage, virtual power plants, vehicle‑to‑grid integration, and artificial intelligence are being deployed at an increasingly rapid pace; however, the maturity, cost‑effectiveness, safety, and standardization of some of these technologies still require further improvement. The nationwide unified electricity market is advancing in depth, with new types of market participants entering the market more quickly, thereby placing higher demands on market rules, pricing mechanisms, and coordinated dispatch and operations. Meanwhile, international competition in green industries is intensifying, and trade and investment barriers are mounting. As a result, China’s related industries are gaining new opportunities to expand international cooperation, while also facing the challenge of consolidating their competitive advantages and enhancing the resilience of their industrial and supply chains.
III. The Plan outlines a clear vision for the new‑type power system by 2030.
The Plan sets forth that by 2030, a new type of power system—clean and low-carbon, secure and abundant, economically efficient, coordinated in supply and demand, and flexible and intelligent—will be preliminarily established, with a target framework that places greater emphasis on structural optimization, capacity enhancement, and synergistic development.
First, greater emphasis will be placed on ensuring a secure and ample electricity supply. Efforts will be made to establish a comprehensive power‑security system centered on an early‑warning mechanism for electricity‑supply adequacy. The national electricity‑supply adequacy ratio will be maintained at 1.1 or above, with this target set as a binding indicator; the share of non‑fossil‑fuel‑based power generation will reach 40%; and approximately 80 million kilowatts of new grid‑side standalone advanced energy storage capacity—capable of supporting peak‑load supply—will be added, with an equivalent peak‑shaving duration striving to reach four hours.
Second, greater emphasis is being placed on the green transition and quality enhancement of power‑generation development. The nation’s total installed generating capacity has reached 5.4 billion kilowatts, with non‑fossil‑fuel sources accounting for 65% of installed capacity and 50% of electricity generation. Efforts are being accelerated to ensure that all new electricity demand is met by additional clean‑energy capacity.
Third, greater emphasis will be placed on the power grid’s resource allocation and overall carrying capacity. The scale of west-to-east power transmission will exceed 420 million kilowatts, inter-provincial power mutual assistance capacity will reach 120 million kilowatts, and the distribution network’s ability to accommodate distributed renewable energy will amount to 900 million kilowatts, while comprehensively enhancing cross-regional transmission, inter-provincial mutual assistance, and local consumption levels.
Fourth, greater emphasis will be placed on the actual available capacity of new‑type regulation resources. Demand‑side peak‑shaving capacity will reach at least 5% of maximum load; the maximum adjustable capacity of virtual power plants will exceed 50 million kilowatts; the aggregated controllable charging capacity from vehicle‑to‑grid (V2G) interactions will strive to reach 50 million kilowatts; and installed capacity of new‑type energy storage will reach 300 million kilowatts, thereby shifting the focus of regulation resources from sheer scale of deployment to a stronger emphasis on actual adjustability and flexible dispatch.
Fifth, greater emphasis is placed on public‑service provision and the development of market mechanisms. The number of charging infrastructure facilities has exceeded 40 million, and the average power supply reliability for urban users nationwide has reached approximately 99.99%. Market‑based electricity transactions account for roughly 70% of total national electricity consumption, while inter‑provincial and inter‑regional trading volume has reached 2 trillion kilowatt-hours, thereby expanding the scope of planning objectives from infrastructure construction to reliable power supply, convenient energy use, and efficient resource allocation. Fourth, the Plan advances the development of a new‑type power system through two major task areas.
Compared with previous iterations, this Plan places greater emphasis on systemic integration and forward-looking vision, elevating system security to a more prominent position. It embeds green and low‑carbon objectives throughout every link of the power system, proactively fostering the development of new business models such as virtual power plants, vehicle‑to‑grid integration, and computing‑power coordination. The scope of the Plan has expanded beyond traditional power‑source and grid infrastructure to encompass the user side, the industrial chain, and cross‑sectoral integration, with more granular content and a broader geographic footprint. The Plan dedicates separate chapters to demand‑side coordination, enhanced flexibility, power‑system safety governance, and the convergence of related industries, clearly reflecting the new requirements emerging in the current context.
The key tasks outlined in the Plan can be broadly categorized into two main pillars: first, focusing on the transformation of physical infrastructure and operational mechanisms to drive a coordinated reshaping of generation, grid, load, and demand‑response; second, emphasizing the expansion of industry functions by integrating intelligent, green, and integrated approaches across support, services, and safeguards. The former prioritizes “building a new system,” while the latter emphasizes “developing new capabilities.”
(1) Jointly advance the restructuring of all links—generation, grid, load, and demand response—to establish the core architecture of a secure and reliable new‑type power system.
On the supply side, the Plan emphasizes, building on the development of clean power sources and the accelerated establishment of a green, low‑carbon electricity supply structure, the need to guide the diversified development of new energy according to specific models—such as “desert‑Gobi‑wasteland” projects, integrated water‑wind‑solar initiatives, offshore wind power, and both centralized and distributed on‑site installations. It also sets tiered, region‑specific targets for new‑energy utilization rates, aiming to achieve high‑level integration of more than 2.8 billion kilowatts of new energy capacity. At the same time, the Plan calls for vigorous efforts to enhance energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in coal‑fired power generation, adjust and optimize the composition of coal‑power capacity, improve overall plant‑level energy efficiency, install carbon‑reduction technologies such as zero‑ and low‑carbon fuel co‑firing and CCUS, and promote the integration of coal power with new energy sources.
On the grid side, the Plan calls for building a new‑generation power grid that is safe and reliable, green and low‑carbon, robust and resilient, and intelligent and flexible. First, it emphasizes a nationwide coordinated approach, optimizing the national electricity flow and the layout of interprovincial and interregional transmission corridors. Second, it strengthens coordination among the main grid, distribution networks, and microgrids: on the main grid, it advances regional backbone grid construction to bolster the system’s capacity to operate safely and stably; on the distribution side, it develops a resilient distribution network to enhance power supply reliability, overall carrying capacity, and disaster‑resilience; and in the microgrid domain, it supports the tailored development of smart microgrids suited to local conditions. Third, it accelerates the enhancement of smart grid dispatching capabilities. Fourth, it optimizes the deployment of charging infrastructure to meet the charging needs of more than 110 million electric vehicles.
On the demand side, the Plan dedicates an entire chapter to this area, emphasizing the need to enhance both electrification and the utilization of green electricity while promoting coordinated interaction between supply and demand. It calls for refining virtual power plant trading rules, establishing a comprehensive technical standards framework, and developing robust mechanisms for construction, operation, management, and grid access and dispatch. The plan places particular emphasis on enabling virtual power plants to participate in electricity market transactions on a regular, large-scale basis.
On the demand‑side, the Plan for the first time systematically lays out a framework for building ancillary capacity, setting out requirements from two perspectives: upgrading existing resources and optimizing new additions. With regard to upgrading existing capacity, the Plan calls for retrofitting eligible existing renewable‑energy facilities with integrated energy storage to enhance their dispatchability, while also promoting flexibility upgrades for operating coal‑fired units to improve their capabilities in deep regulation, rapid response, and efficient output control. As for optimizing new capacity, the Plan emphasizes advancing the construction of a number of pumped‑storage hydropower stations that participate in regional grid regulation, vigorously developing next‑generation energy storage technologies, and scaling up vehicle‑to‑grid (V2G) applications.
While coordinating and deploying key tasks related to power generation, grid infrastructure, load management, and demand response, the Plan further strengthens the holistic, optimized spatial planning of the power system. Grounded in the region’s energy resource endowments and local development needs, the Plan integrates “west-to-east power transmission” with “west‑to‑west consumption,” cross‑regional transmission with local absorption, and centralized development with distributed utilization. It promotes coordinated deployment of large‑scale clean energy bases, transmission corridors, ancillary resources, and market mechanisms for renewable energy integration, guiding the western regions to expand green power exports while fostering local industrial development, and encouraging the central and eastern regions to intensify the on‑site development and utilization of new energy. In this way, the Plan establishes a power development framework characterized by top‑level coordination, tiered implementation, and clear priorities.
(II) Comprehensively enhance support, service, and safeguard capabilities, and open up new avenues for high-quality power development.
In terms of enhancing supporting capabilities, the Plan emphasizes strengthening dual‑pillar support from both technological innovation and institutional reforms. Specifically, it calls for: first, accelerating advances in power‑sector science and technology, fully leveraging the driving force of innovation, bolstering fundamental research on next‑generation power systems, tackling key core technologies and equipment, reinforcing standards‑based guidance, and fostering deep integration between technological and industrial innovation; second, advancing the development of a nationwide unified electricity market, deepening reforms of the electricity pricing mechanism, establishing a market‑oriented, diversified investment framework, and encouraging private enterprises to participate in investment and infrastructure development.
In terms of enhancing service capabilities, the Plan proposes: first, to significantly improve electricity supply for both urban and rural residents, strengthen power‑supply capacity in remote areas, bolster the reliability of charging services, continuously raise power‑supply quality, promote clean heating, and meet the electricity needs of the people for a better quality of life; second, to reinforce complementary advantages, coupled coordination, and integrated development among the power sector and related fields and industries—including computing power, heat, hydrogen, and transportation; and third, to expand international exchanges and cooperation, leading the open development of a new‑type power system. This includes participating in the development and utilization of clean energy, the construction and operation, as well as the upgrading and modernization of power infrastructure, and the building of interconnected power grids in relevant countries and regions, thereby deepening cooperation across the power industry’s value chain and supply chain.
In terms of enhancing security and reliability, the Plan calls for robust measures to ensure the safety and stability of the power system. It emphasizes strengthening the foundations of safe power production, reinforcing management of safe and stable operations, improving grid‑related safety management and emergency response capabilities, and elevating the overall resilience of the power system. Additionally, it seeks to bolster construction safety and quality assurance to safeguard critical power infrastructure.
With planning firmly anchoring our direction and heavy responsibilities propelling us forward, we must take the 15th Five-Year Plan for Power Development as our guiding framework, unite as one, pursue pragmatic action, and tackle tough challenges head-on. We will devote all our efforts to shaping a new‑type power system, consolidate the foundations of a strong energy nation in the power sector, and strive to write a new chapter in the high‑quality development of the electricity industry.
