The supply capacity of green electricity continues to rise, the construction of new power systems is steadily accelerating, and China's clean energy development has ushered in a new breakthrough. On June 12, 2026, the "China Renewable Energy Development Report" was released, which stated that by 2025, the total new renewable energy generation in China will cover the increase in social electricity consumption, and all new economic energy consumption will rely on green electricity supply.

Industry development, transformation and upgrading

Pumped storage technology is mature and cost-effective, and can be developed on a large scale. It is a key regulating power source to ensure the smooth operation of the power grid. The report points out that China's pumped storage industry has bid farewell to the stage of single scale expansion and entered a new development stage of synchronous improvement in scale and quality. During the 15th Five Year Plan period, it is planned to add about 100 million kilowatts of pumped storage to production.

Global leader in industrial scale

Data shows that the development momentum of China's pumped storage industry will be strong in 2025. 27 newly approved pumped storage power stations with an installed capacity of 35.8 million kilowatts throughout the year; The newly put into operation installed capacity is 7.48 million kilowatts, and the total installed capacity in operation in China has exceeded 65.94 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world in terms of total installed capacity for ten consecutive years.

Comprehensive optimization of technical layout

Zhao Zenghai, Vice President of the Water Resources Planning and Design Institute, stated that during the 14th Five Year Plan period, China's pumped storage system will mostly use fixed speed units, and technology research and development will focus on the construction sector. During the 15th Five Year Plan period, the industry will comprehensively popularize intelligent construction and intelligent operation and maintenance technologies, relying on the full chain digital capabilities to adapt to the regulation needs of new power systems.

During the 14th Five Year Plan period, most pumped storage projects will be located in the eastern power load center, mainly to alleviate the peak power supply pressure in the eastern region. During the 15th Five Year Plan period, the industry will build a new pattern of coordinated development between the east and the west, linking the stable power generation of the western new energy base, reducing the fluctuation of new energy power generation, and enhancing the capacity of clean energy consumption. Keywords: green power, pumped storage, renewable energy

Zhao Zenghai introduced that the development goals outlined in the 15th Five Year Plan outline that China's pumped storage capacity will increase by about 100 million kilowatts in the next five years, and it is expected that the total production scale of pumped storage capacity in the country will reach 160 million kilowatts by 2030.Editor/Gong Ziwei