China sure-footed in carbon peak goals

For decades, China's energy heart has beaten in the west, while its industrial pulse has flourished in the east.

Bridging this geographical divide, which spans thousands of kilometers, has become the ultimate test of the country's carbon peak and neutrality ambitions.

A new policy roadmap released by top economic regulators aims to bridge this chasm by expanding its "west-to-east" power transmission capacity to over 420 gigawatts by 2030, as the world's second-largest economy advances the strategic modernization of its electrical grid and builds a new power system that is clean, secure and efficient.

China is set to scale up its cross-country power transmission capacity, while nonfossil fuel sources will account for roughly 30 percent of its total electricity generation. This will be supported by a grid capable of integrating 900 GW of distributed solar and wind power, said the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration.

This expansion serves as a critical "super-highway" for the Gobi Desert's massive renewable energy bases, ensuring green power reaches hubs like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, Guangdong province, without being wasted.

West-to-east transmission capacity in China was 340 GW in 2025, meeting approximately 23 percent of the nation's peak demand last year, said the NEA.

China's grid has already evolved into the world's largest and most advanced network in terms of transmission capacity, voltage levels and integration of renewables.

Beyond the physical wires, the 2030 plan emphasizes interprovincial mutual aid, with an additional 40 GW of capacity dedicated to sharing power between provinces during weather-driven shortages or peak loads.

The government also plans to support the rollout of over 40 million electric vehicle charging units, integrating the transport sector into the broader energy ecosystem.

The surge in China's power demand is being driven by a dual-track acceleration in the digital and green economies: the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure and the massive scale-up of renewable energy integration.

As AI evolves, the proliferation of hyperscale data centers, which require significantly more power than traditional servers for intensive training and inference, is projected to nearly quadruple electricity consumption in the sector over the next decade, said the International Energy Agency.

Simultaneously, the country's aggressive push for decarbonization has led to record-breaking additions of solar and wind capacity, necessitating unprecedented investment in utilities to manage the intermittency of these sources.