31 provinces and cities announce key energy plans for the 15th Five-Year Plan period

 The 15th Five‑Year period is a crucial stage for building a new power system and advancing China’s “dual‑carbon” goals. Reviewing special plans from 31 provinces shows that the new energy industry has become a primary focus nationwide. Every province and municipality has placed new energy within its core layout. Regions are exploring locally suitable development paths based on their resources and industrial foundations, forming a national framework with locally distinct implementation.

1. A unified national focus and synchronized pace

Across the country, provinces share a common development emphasis and a highly consistent construction rhythm. Most regions have set clear quantitative targets for new‑energy installed capacity; only a few have not specified numbers. This points to substantial growth ahead in national new‑energy capacity. All provinces plan joint development of wind, solar, storage and hydrogen, with hydrogen a priority emerging industry in many areas. Twenty‑two provinces can rely on local resource advantages to develop large‑scale clean‑energy bases. Another 22 provinces are building direct green‑power transmission systems and zero‑carbon industrial parks. By pursuing integrated “source‑grid‑load‑storage” models, they aim to raise new‑energy utilization and help industries complete green upgrades.

2. Distinct regional approaches: three development models

Provinces differ markedly in strategy according to geography, energy endowments and industrial bases. Broadly, three models emerge: coastal regions deepening marine new energy; inland regions upgrading power networks; and resource‑rich areas building large energy bases.

- Coastal regions: marine focus and high‑end manufacturing

  Coastal areas, with abundant marine resources and mature manufacturing, prioritize offshore wind and nuclear projects and promote deep integration of new energy with advanced manufacturing. Ten coastal provinces and municipalities, including Shanghai, Zhejiang and Guangdong, specifically plan stronger offshore wind development. For example, Zhejiang aims for wind capacity to exceed 30 GW by 2030; Shandong focuses on two major offshore wind clusters; Guangdong is advancing nearshore and far‑sea pilot projects. Beyond generation, coastal regions emphasize optimizing the entire industry chain: Fujian is strengthening offshore wind equipment supply chains, while Guangdong and Zhejiang—leveraging nuclear capabilities—are exploring direct green‑power connections, virtual power plants and next‑generation storage deployment.

- Resource‑rich regions (northwest/north): building massive bases and solving long‑distance transmission

  Regions such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia and Shanxi, with large areas of desert and gobi, focus on developing ultra‑large wind and solar bases and tackling long‑distance transmission and efficient use of green power. Inner Mongolia targets 325 GW of new‑energy capacity by the end of the 15th Five‑Year period, leading the country in scale; Xinjiang plans integrated wind‑solar bases totaling about 120 GW; Gansu, Ningxia and Shanxi also plan tens‑to‑hundreds of GW‑class bases. To resolve transmission and curtailment issues, these regions will advance coordinated source‑grid‑load‑storage systems. Gansu and Ningxia promote direct green‑power supply and build zero‑carbon industrial parks, and push to convert green power into green hydrogen, green ammonia and other green chemical products—shifting from “exporting electricity” toward “exporting green industry.”

- Inland provinces: hydropower–wind–solar complementarity and stronger grid absorption

  Inland provinces tailor plans to land use and load distribution, emphasizing multi‑energy complementarity and grid upgrades. Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hubei leverage hydropower resources in basins such as the Jinsha, Yalong and Lancang to build integrated water‑wind‑solar bases, using hydropower’s flexibility to smooth wind and solar variability. Henan, Hubei and Hunan combine large centralized projects with distributed PV and small‑scale wind, while strengthening smart, resilient grids and expanding energy‑storage systems to ease curtailment from high shares of variable renewables.

3. Future industries: targeted, pragmatic deployment

Provinces deploy future industries based on local R&D capacity and technological readiness, producing significant variation in emphasis. Hydrogen and bio‑manufacturing—whose value chains are relatively mature and market demand clearer—are prioritized in 29 and 28 provinces respectively. Embodied intelligence (closely tied to robotics) has been advanced in about 25 provinces. Frontier fields such as quantum technology and nuclear fusion face very high technical barriers; only a minority of provinces with research strengths or special resources (about 15 for quantum, 11 for fusion, including Anhui, Henan and Gansu) include them in forward‑looking plans.

4. Implementation measures: funds and pilot zones

To ensure implementation, regions have rolled out support measures. Twenty‑three provinces explicitly emphasize government investment funds to guide development and attract private capital. More than 21 provinces plan to establish pilot or leading industrial zones, using funding and platform support to accelerate the transition of advanced energy technologies from laboratories to commercial deployment.

Conclusion

Taken together, the 31 provincial plans for the 15th Five‑Year period align with the national green development strategy while tailoring actions to local conditions. Over the next five years, the domestic new‑energy industry is expected to advance steadily within a common framework, achieve breakthroughs through regional differentiation, and progressively build a safe, green and efficient modern energy system.

For more details please visit www.newenergyera.com​