China has set a target to increase its total renewable energy generation capacity to around 3.5 TW by 2030 under its Renewable Energy Development Plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA).

Annual renewable energy generation is targeted at approximately 6,000 TWh by 2030. Wind and solar capacity are expected to exceed 2.8 TW, accounting for more than 50% of the country’s total installed power generation capacity.

The plan also targets total renewable energy consumption of around 1.8 billion tons of standard coal equivalent by 2030.

China also plans to improve renewables’ ability to provide reliable power during peak demand. By 2030, the average dependable output of wind and solar projects, including associated energy storage, is expected to reach 8%. The targeted dependable output is around 11% for wind projects and 6% for solar projects.

Large-Scale Wind and Solar

The plan calls for more than 370 GW of new wind and solar capacity to be added at renewable energy bases in northern, northeastern, and northwestern China during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Development will focus on large wind and solar bases in desert, Gobi, and arid regions, alongside pilot projects combining solar development with desertification control and projects designed to transmit 100% renewable electricity.

New large-scale renewable bases will be planned in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. The plan also promotes renewable projects designed for local consumption, as well as large projects that supply electricity to other regions.

Distributed Renewables

China plans to add more than 300 GW of distributed renewable energy capacity during the five-year period. Distributed solar and wind projects will be promoted in industrial parks, economic development zones, mining areas, resource-dependent cities, and other commercial and industrial clusters.

The plan also supports industrial green microgrids, distributed renewable projects along transportation infrastructure, vehicle-to-grid technologies, and the development of “zero-carbon highways.”

Renewable energy will also be integrated with agriculture through village-level solar projects and rural wind and solar development initiatives.

Offshore Wind

China plans to begin construction of around 100 GW of offshore wind projects during the 15th Five-Year Plan period and increase cumulative offshore wind installations to more than 100 GW by 2030.

The plan calls for continued development of nearshore projects and accelerated deployment of deep-sea offshore wind bases. Offshore transmission corridors and shared grid connection infrastructure will also be developed. China will promote the integration of offshore wind with offshore solar, marine energy, oil and gas operations, seawater desalination, marine aquaculture, and subsea computing infrastructure.

Pumped Storage and Flexible Renewables

Pumped storage capacity is targeted to reach approximately 160 GW by 2030. China aims to commission around 100 GW of new pumped-storage projects over the five-year period.

Pumped storage projects will increasingly be developed alongside renewable energy bases and nuclear power plants. Smaller pumped storage projects may also be deployed near load centers to provide balancing services to distribution systems.

New centralized wind and solar projects should generally achieve a dependable output of at least 10% by 2030, while projects with suitable conditions will be encouraged to exceed 20%.

The government will also promote co-located or nearby wind and solar projects that share transmission infrastructure, forecasting systems, and coordinated operational capabilities.

Concentrated Solar, Hydropower, and Marine Energy

China aims to increase concentrated solar power capacity to 15 GW by 2030. Large CSP projects will be developed in Qinghai, Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet, including projects integrated with large wind and solar bases.

Conventional hydropower capacity is targeted at around 410 GW by 2030, while total hydropower capacity, including pumped storage, is expected to reach approximately 570 GW.

Marine energy capacity is expected to reach approximately 400 MW by 2030, with tidal current, wave, and ocean thermal energy projects among the technologies targeted for development.

Green Hydrogen

China aims to increase renewable hydrogen production capacity to 2 million tons by 2030, up from 250,000 tons in 2025. The plan proposes developing integrated wind, solar, hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol projects. The government will also promote renewable electricity and renewable fuels in industrial processes, transportation, buildings, and digital infrastructure.

Technology and Manufacturing

China intends to strengthen its renewable energy technology and manufacturing advantages by investing more in advanced materials, critical components, equipment, control systems, and artificial intelligence.

For solar, the plan specifically calls for accelerating research and industrialization of high-efficiency perovskite tandem cells and exploring space-based solar power technologies.

For wind, research will focus on high-reliability, lower-cost blades, ultra-high towers, floating foundations, and emerging wind technologies.

Market Reforms

The plan calls for developing electricity markets capable of accommodating high shares of renewable energy and expanding the participation of renewable projects in market-based electricity trading.

Distributed renewable projects will be allowed to participate in electricity markets through aggregation, while large renewable energy bases may participate as integrated portfolios.

China also plans to improve capacity pricing mechanisms for pumped storage and other flexible resources, establish mechanisms to compensate dependable capacity, and strengthen green certificate and green electricity markets.

China added 158.7 GW of new power generation capacity in the first half of 2026. Solar accounted for the largest share of new capacity additions at 72.07 GW, followed by 38.62 GW of wind power, 38.36 GW of thermal power, 6.03 GW of hydropower, and 3.62 GW of nuclear power.