China Releases 15th Five-Year Plan for Building a New Energy System

China has unveiled its 15th Five-Year Plan for Building a New Energy System, setting out development priorities and targets aimed at strengthening the country's energy security, accelerating the low-carbon transition and fostering high-quality growth in the energy sector.

Jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA), the plan outlines measures covering energy infrastructure, hydrogen development, energy storage, technological innovation and the integration of energy and computing resources.

Strengthening National Energy Infrastructure

The plan calls for the development of major national energy transport corridors to improve the efficiency and resilience of China's energy supply system.

In the power sector, China will further expand west-to-east electricity transmission by delivering more electricity from large-scale wind and solar power bases in northern and western regions, as well as integrated hydropower, wind and solar bases in southwest China, to major demand centers. The country aims to add more than 80 million kilowatts of west-to-east transmission capacity during the plan period.

The plan also calls for optimizing coal transportation networks by improving major transport corridors and expanding outbound coal transport channels from Xinjiang.

Meanwhile, China will continue improving its integrated national oil and gas pipeline network by strengthening key transmission routes, including the West-to-East Gas Pipeline, the Sichuan-to-East Gas Transmission project, north-to-south gas transmission corridors and offshore gas landing infrastructure. The country's oil and gas pipeline network is expected to expand by 20,000 kilometers.

Advancing the Hydrogen Value Chain

Hydrogen development is identified as one of the plan's strategic priorities.

The plan calls for coordinated development across the entire hydrogen value chain, including production, storage, transportation and end use. It encourages region-specific approaches such as hydrogen production powered directly by renewable electricity and off-grid renewable hydrogen production.

China aims to produce 2 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen annually by 2030, while expanding the purification and efficient utilization of industrial by-product hydrogen.

The plan also supports the development of green hydrogen, ammonia and methanol production bases and calls for improved planning of hydrogen pipeline infrastructure.

Applications of hydrogen, ammonia and methanol will be expanded in power generation, transportation, chemicals, metallurgy and large-scale energy storage.

In addition, China will establish hydrogen testing and demonstration platforms, accelerate research and pilot projects for green fuel technologies, and develop a sustainability certification system for green fuels to support the commercialization of the industry.

Strengthening China's New Energy Industries

The plan calls for consolidating and expanding China's competitive strengths in the new energy sector through greater technological innovation, industrial upgrading and coordinated supply chain development.

It encourages continued innovation in wind and solar technologies and equipment, reinforced by stronger technical standards and intellectual property protection, with the goal of building China into a global innovation hub for new energy industries.

The plan also calls for optimizing the layout of new energy industrial chains to better balance supply and demand, promote orderly market competition and avoid low-level redundant investment.

Efforts will be made to upgrade the manufacturing capabilities of new energy storage and hydrogen equipment while strengthening advantages in key technologies and industrial applications. High-end equipment manufacturing, including the nuclear power sector, will also receive further support.

In addition, the plan promotes the AI Plus Energy initiative by integrating energy resource allocation with computing infrastructure development to support coordinated growth in both sectors.

Advancing Next-Generation Energy Technologies

The plan identifies technological innovation as a key driver of China's future energy transition.

It calls for accelerated research and development of small modular reactors (SMRs), fourth-generation nuclear reactor technologies, deep-sea offshore wind power and flexible direct-current transmission systems.

Innovation will also be strengthened in frontier technologies such as controlled nuclear fusion, space-based solar power and high-temperature superconducting power transmission.

To better coordinate energy supply and digital infrastructure, the plan encourages integrated planning of large-scale renewable energy bases and national computing hubs, supporting the development of energy-and-digital industrial clusters.

The plan also aims to strengthen coordination between electricity supply and computing power to ensure reliable, high-quality electricity for industries such as artificial intelligence and big data.

Meanwhile, China will continue advancing the digital transformation of its energy sector by developing intelligent coal mines, smart power plants, digital oil and gas fields, and smarter electricity and pipeline networks.

Expanding Energy Storage Capacity

The plan places greater emphasis on accelerating the deployment of energy storage to support the rapid growth of renewable energy.

It calls for the orderly development of pumped-storage hydropower projects while significantly expanding new energy storage technologies, particularly long-duration energy storage.

Multiple technological pathways will be encouraged, with broader applications of energy storage in renewable energy integration, grid stability, microgrids and virtual power plants.

The plan also supports new dispatch and management mechanisms to improve the efficiency and utilization of energy storage facilities.

By 2030, China aims to increase installed pumped-storage capacity to around 160 gigawatts (GW) and new energy storage capacity to approximately 300 GW.

Looking Ahead

The new plan provides a comprehensive roadmap for accelerating the development of China's modern energy system over the next five years.

By strengthening energy infrastructure, expanding the hydrogen economy, promoting technological innovation and accelerating energy storage deployment, the plan aims to enhance energy security, support high-quality economic development and advance China's transition toward a cleaner, more efficient and more resilient energy system.