China's new five-year plan puts renewables and smart grids at core of energy...

by MA Yueran

China has set out its energy strategy for the next five years, pledging to expand renewables, energy storage and smart grids as it works toward its 2030 carbon-emissions peak and 2060 neutrality targets.

The Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, released by Xinhua News Agency on Oct 28, mark a shift from the previous plan that focused on oil and gas. For the first time, the blueprint introduces the goal of "multi-energy development," promoting wind, solar, hydro and nuclear power in parallel to build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system. The document serves as the Party's top-level policy blueprint for China's economic and social priorities over the next five years.

China's energy mix has shifted rapidly in recent years. In 2024, renewables surpassed coal in installed capacity for the first time. By July 2025, total renewable installations reached 2.17 billion kilowatts, including 1.1 billion kilowatts of solar and 570 million of wind—more than double the level at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan. Non-fossil sources now make up over 60% of total capacity.

The new plan seeks to consolidate this lead while addressing grid bottlenecks that limit the use of intermittent solar and wind power. It calls for faster development of pumped-hydro and new-type storage, as well as the rollout of smart and micro-grids to enhance system flexibility.

In September, China's top economic planners set a target of adding 100 gigawatts of new energy storage between 2025 and 2027, bringing total installations to at least 180 GW and attracting about 250 billion yuan (about US35 billion) in investment.

Beijing is also betting on hydrogen and nuclear fusion as future energy sources. Hydrogen was listed as a strategic emerging industry in 2022, though high production and transport costs remain obstacles. Fusion research has advanced rapidly: China's EAST tokamak achieved a 1,066-second plasma run at 100 million°C, a world record, while the HL-3 device hit 160 million°C. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) has made controllable fusion a key focus under its Future Industries Initiative.

The plan strengthens China's carbon-reduction framework by introducing dual controls on total emissions and intensity, expanding the national carbon-emissions trading scheme, and developing voluntary offset markets. It also calls for zero-carbon factories and industrial parks, and reforms to pricing and market mechanisms to support low-carbon growth. Fiscal and financial policies — including tax breaks and green finance incentives — are expected to channel more private capital into climate-related industries.

The blueprint highlights Beijing's view of energy policy as part of its industrial strategy, aimed at sustaining growth while strengthening its lead in clean-tech manufacturing. China already accounts for over half of global new wind and solar capacity, and its expansion in batteries, grid technology and hydrogen is expected to extend that advantage. The plan calls for coordinating the energy transition with industrial upgrading and technological innovation.

The 15th Five-Year Plan Proposals also go beyond energy and carbon goals, outlining China's 2026–2030 priorities in technology, education, artificial intelligence and consumption. By 2035, the plan envisions a major rise in economic and technological strength, with per-capita GDP reaching the level of moderately developed economies and living standards markedly improved.