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

The document outlines China's transition toward a "New Power System" as a means to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. It characterizes the current system by its reliance on coal, growing electricity demand, and the geographic distance between renewable sources and load centers. To transition, the report proposes a system defined by balanced green power development, large-scale energy storage, smart grids powered by AI and digital technology, and elastic demand for system balancing.

• China's current power system is defined by four basic characteristics: ongoing growth in electricity consumption, a dominance of coal resources, renewable energy sources located far from load centers, and ongoing power market reforms.
• The proposed New Power System consists of four major features: the balanced and extensive development of green power, the use of large-scale energy storage for flexibility, the implementation of digital technology and AI for smart grids, and the use of demand as an elastic participant in balancing the system.
• The power sector is central to China's energy transition and climate solutions, as it currently accounts for approximately 40% of the nation's carbon emissions.

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} }