Recently, Li Chuangjun, Director of the New and Renewable Energy Department at the National Energy Administration (NEA), published a signed article in China Electric Power News, systematically elaborating on the main development theme for renewable energy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030): "Expanding Scale, Enhancing Quality, and Achieving Reliable Substitution." The article points out that China's cumulative grid-connected offshore wind power capacity has exceeded 47 million kilowatts, ranking first globally for five consecutive years. Efforts are now focused on promoting the construction commencement of a number of deep-sea offshore wind power projects. Concurrently, the cumulative installed capacity of wind and solar power from new energy bases in the Gobi and desert regions has surpassed 150 million kilowatts. Experimental projects like photovoltaic (PV) sand control are being accelerated, and renewable energy is rapidly becoming the main power source within the new energy system. The article further clarifies the need to coordinate base construction with ecological restoration, advance experimental PV sand control projects in deserts like Kubuqi, Tengger, and Qaidam, and promote the standardized and orderly construction of offshore wind power, with a focus on initiating several deep-sea projects.

As a technology enterprise deeply engaged in the field of precision sensing, Qingdao Marinetech Technology Co., Ltd.'s business layout aligns closely with this national strategy. The company's self-developed high-precision wind speed and direction sensors are not only core sensing components for the safe operation of deep-sea offshore wind farms and the intelligent operation and maintenance of large-scale PV bases, but also widely applicable in scenarios such as energy, smart cities, port shipping, agricultural meteorology, and environmental monitoring. With precise data acquisition capabilities, Marinetech aims to serve the expansion and quality improvement of renewable energy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, while also providing solid technical support for broader industrial production and smart management.

The following is the original text from China Electric Power News:

Promoting the Expansion, Quality Enhancement, and Reliable Substitution of Renewable Energy During the 15th Five-Year Plan Period

Li Chuangjun, Director of the New and Renewable Energy Department, National Energy Administration

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China outlined the strategic plan for building China into an energy powerhouse and set the goal of initially establishing a new-type energy system. This provides the fundamental guidance for the development of renewable energy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The 2026 National Energy Work Conference emphasized the need to closely focus on the main theme of energy development, strive for a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan, and provide strong energy support for Chinese-style modernization. The New Energy Department of the NEA is conscientiously implementing the deployments of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the National Energy Work Conference, promoting the expansion, quality enhancement, and reliable substitution of renewable energy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, and working effectively to ensure a good start.

The 14th Five-Year Plan Period Witnessed High-Quality Leapfrog Development of China's Renewable Energy

Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China has built the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system, established the world's largest and most complete new energy industry chain. The scale of renewable energy development has continued to surge, major projects have progressed steadily, green power application scenarios have continuously expanded, policies and mechanisms have improved, and industrial competitiveness leads globally, achieving high-quality leapfrog development.

1. Development Scale Continues to Surge. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the development speed and intensity of China's wind and solar power have been unprecedented. New installed capacity has repeatedly reached new highs, with an average annual increase of 260 million kilowatts. By the end of 2025, total installed capacity reached 1.84 billion kilowatts, accounting for 47% of the total power installed capacity, historically surpassing thermal power to become the largest power source in the system. The total installed capacity of renewable energy power generation exceeded 2.3 billion kilowatts, with its share of total installed capacity increasing from 40% in 2020 to 60% in 2025, successfully achieving all the goals set in the 14th Five-Year Plan.

2. Positive Progress in Major Projects. The hydropower project on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River was approved and commenced construction. Major hydropower projects progressed steadily, with the total installed capacity of conventional hydropower reaching 380 million kilowatts and pumped storage capacity exceeding 66 million kilowatts. The planning and construction of hydro-wind-solar integrated bases accelerated. New energy bases in the Gobi and desert regions saw their cumulative installed wind and solar capacity exceed 150 million kilowatts, building a "New Energy Great Wall" in the barren lands of the "Three Norths" region. Offshore wind power construction proceeded in a standardized and orderly manner, with planning replies completed for all 11 coastal provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities). The cumulative grid-connected installed capacity of offshore wind power nationwide surpassed 47 million kilowatts, ranking first globally for five consecutive years.

3. More Prominent Contribution to Transformation. In 2025, the national renewable energy power generation totaled approximately 4 trillion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 38.3% of the total power generation. Nearly 4 out of every 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed in society were green power. Wind and solar power generation reached 2.3 trillion kilowatt-hours, exceeding the sum of electricity consumption in the primary and tertiary industries during the same period, accounting for 22%, an increase of over 12 percentage points cumulatively in the past five years. The "green content" of electricity consumption continued to rise, strongly supporting China's non-fossil energy consumption share reaching about 21.5%. This laid a solid foundation for achieving the carbon peak target by 2030 and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) target by 2035, and also made significant contributions to the global response to climate change.

4. Technology and Industry Strength Leads Globally. China possesses the world's largest manufacturing capacity for 1-million-kilowatt class turbines. Offshore wind turbine unit capacities and photovoltaic conversion efficiency have repeatedly broken world records. China holds over 40% of the world's new energy patents, marking a leap in renewable energy technology and equipment from following and paralleling to leading. China's new energy markets, such as wind and solar, are open and competitive, with vibrant private enterprises and bursting innovation, achieving continuous technological iteration and rapid cost reduction. Export performance remained remarkable in 2025, with wind turbine exports surpassing 10 billion RMB for the first time (export volume up nearly 50% year-on-year) and solar cell export volume increasing by 97% year-on-year.

5. Policy Support System Increasingly Improved. Essential policy support and a continuously improving institutional system have been crucial factors in China's rapid renewable energy development. In 2025, the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Integrated and Converged Development of New Energy was issued. Management measures for the development and construction of distributed PV and pumped storage power stations were introduced. Policy documents were promoted in areas like solar thermal power and ocean energy. The renewable energy power consumption responsibility weight system was optimized and improved, and the responsibility for green power consumption in key energy-using industries was continuously strengthened. A well-established green electricity certificate (GEC) system and the world's largest GEC market were established, achieving new breakthroughs in the internationalization of GECs. New business models for local consumption, such as direct green power supply and virtual power plants, developed in a standardized, orderly, and vigorous manner.

Promoting the Expansion, Quality Enhancement, and Reliable Substitution of Renewable Energy During the 15th Five-Year Plan Period

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, from the overall perspective of Chinese-style modernization, strategically planned the construction of an energy powerhouse, requiring a continuous increase in the proportion of new energy supply and focusing on building a new-type power system. The New Energy Department deeply understands, resolutely implements, and solidly executes these requirements, promoting the expansion, quality enhancement, and reliable substitution of renewable energy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. This provides core support for building an energy powerhouse and a new-type energy system, and provides solid green energy assurance for comprehensively advancing Chinese-style modernization.

• Adhere to One Main Theme. Making "Expanding Scale, Enhancing Quality, and Achieving Reliable Substitution" the main theme for renewable energy development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Benchmarking against the strategic deployment requirements of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, and facing challenges such as the relatively rapid growth of energy and electricity demand and limited carbon space for energy security, renewable energy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period must demonstrate new responsibility and new achievements. It needs to maintain growth in scale, continuously increasing the proportion of new energy supply, while also focusing on quality improvement, enhancing the ability of new energy to safely and reliably substitute fossil fuels, accelerating its establishment as a "reliable" mainstay, and consolidating the foundation for non-fossil energy as the main supplier in the new-type energy system.

• Aim at Two Directions. Centered on electricity, fully leverage the role of the power grid, continuously expand the scale of renewable energy power supply, and steadily increase the proportion of electricity. Achieve breakthroughs in non-electric applications. While fully utilizing the grid's absorption capacity, actively explore non-electric utilization pathways to enhance the capacity for diversified local conversion and utilization of renewable energy and development autonomy.

• Implement Three Requirements.

  1. Integrated Development: Coordinate large-scale development and high-quality consumption of new energy. Promote the transformation of new energy towards integrated development across upstream/downstream industries, multiple varieties, and multiple sectors, creating an upgraded version of new energy development.

  2. Coordinated Development: Strengthen coordination and connectivity in development goals, power source structure, grid-source coordination, and resource guarantees, forming a strong policy synergy to promote high-quality renewable energy development.

  3. Efficient Development: Place greater emphasis on efficiency and benefits. Strive to enhance the competitiveness of new energy in market-based resource allocation, promote the formation of reasonable per-kilowatt-hour revenue and profit, and achieve sustainable and healthy industry development.

• Clarify Four Goals.

  1. Installed Capacity Goal: Aligning with the NDC goal of striving for a total installed capacity of wind and solar power of 3.6 billion kilowatts by 2035, the proportion of new energy installed capacity during the 15th Five-Year Plan period will exceed 50%, making it the mainstay of power installation.

  2. Electricity Generation Goal: Strive to expand renewable energy supply, driving the新增 clean energy power generation to gradually cover the新增 electricity demand of the entire society. By 2030, the proportion of new energy power generation will reach about 30%.

  3. Non-Electric Utilization Goal: Promote a leap in the scale of non-electric applications such as renewable-based hydrogen, ammonia, methanol production, renewable heating and cooling, and biogas/biomethane.

  4. Reliable Substitution Goal: Enhance the reliable substitution capacity of renewable energy, improve the guaranteed output level of wind and solar PV, guide local authorities to adopt measures suited to local conditions, and scientifically and reasonably increase the capacity contribution ratio of new energy in power balance.

Promoting a Good Start for Renewable Energy Development in the 15th Five-Year Plan Period with Solid Work in 2026

In the new year, we will closely focus on the main theme of expanding scale, enhancing quality, and reliable substitution. Adhering to the combination of an effective market and a pro-active government, we will further strengthen top-level design, increase policy supply, advance major projects, and expand green power applications, opening a new chapter for renewable energy development in the 15th Five-Year Plan period with solid work.

• Accelerate the Revision of the Renewable Energy Law of the People's Republic of China. Cooperate with the Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee of the National People's Congress to revise and improve the draft amendment of the Renewable Energy Law. Study long-term mechanisms for the sustainable development of renewable energy under the new market-oriented stage. Use the law revision to further consolidate consensus and unswervingly promote the priority and vigorous development of renewable energy.

• Formulate and Implement the *15th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development*. Focus on the planning and connectivity of the plan. Deeply deliberate on major strategic tasks, major reform initiatives, and major engineering projects for renewable energy during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Further strengthen the "top-down, bottom-up, and cross-sectoral" connectivity of the plan. Promote the prompt issuance of the *15th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development*, clarifying medium and long-term development goals and layout, using the plan to guide development.

• Strengthen Policy Supply and Implementation. Ensure the implementation of the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Integrated and Converged Development of New Energy. Organize policy promotion activities and case study collections to promote pilot non-electric applications. Issue the Measures for Implementing Minimum Renewable Energy Consumption Targets and the Renewable Energy Power Consumption Responsibility Weight System, strengthening consumption constraints in key energy-using industries and local consumption responsibilities. Enhance policy supply in areas like innovative development of deep-sea offshore wind power and hydro-wind-solar integration, optimizing industry development and construction management. Actively participate in the revision and formulation of electricity market rules to ensure relevant rules fully consider the characteristics and needs of new energy development. Closely monitor the implementation of policies for new energy entering the market across regions, guiding local authorities to scientifically evaluate and optimize the price settlement mechanism for sustainable new energy development.

• Promote Major Project Construction. Accelerate the construction of new energy bases in the Gobi and desert regions, pushing forward with the second and third batches of base projects. Coordinate base construction with ecological restoration. Research and clarify the development layout and construction plan for experimental PV sand control projects. Advance experimental PV sand control projects in deserts like Kubuqi, Tengger, and Qaidam. Promote the standardized and orderly construction of offshore wind power, focusing on initiating a number of deep-sea offshore wind power projects. Steadily advance major hydropower projects. Actively and orderly develop and construct pumped storage hydropower. Accelerate the planning and construction of hydro-wind-solar integrated bases along major river basins.

• Expand Green Power Applications in All Aspects and Depth. Adhere to the combination of mandatory and voluntary consumption. Set green power consumption targets for more key energy-using industries based on actual conditions, steadily increase the required proportion, and strengthen monitoring and assessment. Optimize the setting of renewable energy power consumption responsibility weight targets for 2026, using the weight mechanism to ensure stable growth in both electricity consumption and annual installed capacity. Research medium- and long-term weight guidance mechanisms. Continuously cultivate and expand the GEC market. Monitor GEC prices, issue GEC price indices in a timely manner. Conduct green power consumption certification. Further promote the international mutual recognition of GECs.

(Source: China Electric Power News)