Chinadaily
China’s national power grid is poised for a historic transformation, with the country officially aiming for non-fossil energy sources to account for 50 percent of its total electricity generation by 2030.
To support this monumental shift, the nation plans to achieve a high-level consumption of more than 2.8 billion kilowatts of new energy and build a nationwide charging infrastructure network capable of supporting over 110 million electric vehicles by the end of the decade.
These ambitious targets were outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan for New Power System Construction, jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration on Monday.
The blueprint sets a comprehensive roadmap to preliminarily establish a green, low-carbon, and highly resilient power supply pattern.
According to the plan, China will vastly expand its clean energy capacity across a diverse portfolio. By 2030, conventional hydropower capacity is projected to reach about 410 million kW, while nuclear power capacity will expand to roughly 110 million kW. Other green generation sources—including biomass, solar thermal, geothermal, and ocean energy—will achieve a combined capacity of about 65 million kW, it said.
To ensure supply stability as the grid decarbonizes, the nationwide baseline support level of non-fossil power will climb to 40 percent. Concurrently, the proportion of clean, highly efficient coal-fired units of the 600,000-kW class and above will increase by more than 10 percentage points to act as a reliable backup.
The blueprint also details an unprecedented build-out of infrastructure to support the world’s largest electric vehicle market. The nationwide network will boast a total of more than 40 million charging stations, including around 300,000 high-power charging facilities.
Crucially, the plan emphasizes integrating these vehicles into the broader power grid. Through the large-scale application of smart, orderly charging and bidirectional vehicle-to-grid technology, the aggregated flexible charging scale will strive to reach 50 million kW. This innovation will effectively transform millions of EVs into mobile energy storage units capable of balancing grid loads.
To handle the inherent intermittency of wind and solar power, the government is mandating a historic expansion in energy storage and grid flexibility mechanisms.
By 2030, the national installed capacity of pumped-storage hydroelectric stations will reach 160 million kW, while the scale of new energy storage will hit an astounding 300 million kW.
Ultimately, these sweeping reforms are designed to fundamentally electrify the Chinese economy. By 2030, electricity is projected to account for 35 percent of the country’s total final energy consumption, marking a critical milestone in China’s journey toward its carbon neutrality goals, it said.