The “15th Five-Year Plan” recommendations propose to “continuously increase the proportion of new energy supply” and “strive to build a new power system and construct an energy powerhouse.” Looking back at the “14th Five-Year Plan,” China has chased the light and harnessed the wind, moving toward a greener future. Among the total electricity consumption of the whole society, one out of every three kilowatt-hours is green power.

The “14th Five-Year Plan” period was the five years during which China’s energy transition toward green and low-carbon development progressed the fastest. If all the newly installed photovoltaic panels across the country over the past five years were spread out, their total area could cover 530,000 football fields; if the newly added wind turbine blades were connected end to end, their total length would be equivalent to traveling round trip from China’s easternmost point to its westernmost point.

On the power generation side, green power is now transmitted thousands of kilometers from once desolate “deserts, Gobi, and wastelands” to achieve “instant delivery.”

In October this year, wind and solar resources from Inner Mongolia traveled across a 3,000-kilometer “power skyway” to light up thousands of households on Hainan Island. In August, the Ningxia–Hunan ±800 kV UHV DC transmission project was put into operation, delivering more than 36 billion kWh of electricity to Hunan every year, of which new energy accounts for more than 50%. Today, green power from western China supports one-fifth of the electricity demand in the eastern and central regions.

On the power consumption side, a green and low-carbon energy consumption pattern has taken root in people’s hearts.

In daily life, “driving green cars and using green power” has become the choice of more and more people. As of the end of October this year, the total number of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in China reached 18.645 million, a year-on-year increase of 54%.

At present, northern China has entered the heating season. At Damagou Primary School in Horqin Right Front Banner, Hinggan League, Inner Mongolia, the classrooms are warm and cozy, and teachers and students have bid farewell to the “smoky smell” of heating with coal stoves. Since the beginning of this year, 27 primary and secondary schools in the local area have completed clean energy heating renovation.

In factories, green power is injecting new vitality into industrial upgrading. For example, Huida Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd. consumed 25.6 million kWh of green power in 2024, equivalent to saving 3,146.24 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 8,463.39 tons. “Using green power helps meet the environmental protection requirements of foreign customers and break through trade barriers,” said Hou Xin, Deputy Director of the Equipment Energy and Power Department of Huida Sanitary Ware.

Looking ahead to the “15th Five-Year Plan,” Yang Kun, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Electricity Council, said that on the one hand, it is necessary to ensure a reasonable utilization rate of newly built and existing new energy power generation projects; on the other hand, it is necessary to expand diversified non-electric utilization scenarios of new energy, such as green power for hydrogen production and new energy for heating, and accelerate the innovative breakthrough of various consumption technologies. (Reporter: Wang Yueyang)