China’s central planning agency – National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), National Energy Administration, and National Data Administration have jointly released the “Action Plan for Accelerating the Construction of a New Power System (2024-27)” to achieve the country’s dual carbon goals of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060.
The plan emphasises on three key areas: implementing a clean and efficient power system, addressing key challenges from 2024 to 2027, and using pilot projects to drive incremental progress. It includes nine special actions, focusing initially on stabilising the power system and expanding large-scale renewable energy transmission. To implement the action plan, the three organisations have established a working mechanism to coordinate the construction of the new power system, and strengthen measures for effective guidance, coordination and evaluation.
Currently, inter-provincial transmission corridors mainly carry conventional electricity, such as coal-fired power and hydropower, with a low share of renewables. However, the construction of large-scale renewable energy bases in desert and barren areas, including the Shagohuang wind and solar base, is expected to increase the demand for new energy transmission, with these projects projected to reach 455 GW by 2030.
