A drone photo taken on Jan. 13, 2026 shows the construction site of a 20-megawatt offshore wind turbine unit in the coastal waters of southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan)

China's National Energy Administration (NEA) has called for greater efforts to be made to enhance new-energy grid integration and clean energy consumption to ensure a solid start to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), noting that the role of renewable energy in ensuring energy supply and promoting industrial transition has become increasingly significant.

Based on scientific planning and orderly construction, the NEA aims to comprehensively improve five key capabilities - power grid connection, regulation, dispatching, forecasting and cross-regional mutual support - through multiple measures to boost the level of new energy integration and consumption, a statement on NEA's WeChat account read on Tuesday.

The decision was announced as the NEA held a monthly video operation meeting on the development and construction of renewable energy power.

At the meeting, it was revealed that China's renewable energy development maintained a steadily growing momentum in the first four months of the year. As of the end of April, the installed capacity of renewable energy exceeded 2.4 billion kilowatts (kW), accounting for 60.5 percent of the country's total installed generating capacity. Newly added capacity from renewable energy reached 75.16 million kilowatts, representing 70.7 percent of all newly added installations. Renewable energy generation amounted to 1.2 trillion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 36.4 percent of total electricity consumption. 

And, the cumulative grid-connected installed capacity of wind and solar power reached 1.911 billion kW, with total power generation of 805.2 billion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 24.1 percent of total electricity consumption. The NEA proposed actively promoting the local and nearby consumption of new energy and urged continued efforts to advance large-scale wind and solar power projects, expedite pre-construction procedure, and arrange construction schedules reasonably to ensure project progress.

The authority also called for accelerating the improvement of market mechanism that boosts new energy generation and consumption. This requires both adherence to market price fluctuation rules to ensure stable revenues for new-energy enterprises, and the establishment of appropriate pricing system to drive energy storage development, while supporting the achievement of carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.

According to the CCTV News, in 2025, the incremental electricity demand from China's economic growth was, for the first time, fully met by green power, according to the China Renewable Energy Development Report released on June 12.

In 2025, the newly installed capacity of renewable energy in China reached a record high, accounting for over 60 percent of the global total. It is estimated that, in 2026, about 300 million kilowatts of new wind and solar capacity will be installed in the country, and renewable energy will continue to be the main driver of the country's green transition of industries. 

Global Times