Exploring China’s Pathway to a New Power System: Bringing Modern Elements Online Before Phasing Out the Old

This executive summary describes RMI's research and stakeholder discussions regarding China's transition to a "New Power System" to meet its goals of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

• China's power sector currently accounts for approximately 40% of the nation's carbon emissions. To address this, the government introduced the concept of a "New Power System" in March 2021, which was subsequently integrated into high-level climate policy. The approach to this system was modified following the 2022 global energy crisis and domestic power shortages in 2021 and 2022 to balance immediate challenges with long-term goals.
• The current Chinese power system is characterized by growing electricity consumption, a dominance of coal resources, power market reforms, and renewable energy sources that are located far from load centers.
• The proposed New Power System is defined by four primary features: the balanced and extensive development of green power, the use of large-scale energy storage for flexibility, the application of artificial intelligence and digital technology for a smart grid, and the integration of demand as an elastic participant in system balancing.

APA

RMI (2023). Exploring China’s Pathway to a New Power System: Bringing Modern Elements Online Before Phasing Out the Old. https://rmi.org/resources/exploring-chinas-pathway-to-a-new-power-system/

Chicago

RMI. Exploring China’s Pathway to a New Power System: Bringing Modern Elements Online Before Phasing Out the Old. 2023. https://rmi.org/resources/exploring-chinas-pathway-to-a-new-power-system/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Exploring China’s Pathway to a New Power System: Bringing Modern Elements Online Before Phasing Out the Old |date=8 March 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/exploring-chinas-pathway-to-a-new-power-system/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2023exploring, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Exploring China’s Pathway to a New Power System: Bringing Modern Elements Online Before Phasing Out the Old}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/exploring-chinas-pathway-to-a-new-power-system/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }