Published by ChinaMNC · Dongcheng

Beijing’s 15th Five-Year Energy Plan: What Foreign Founders Need to Know

A practical briefing for foreign founders on Beijing’s new five-year energy plan, covering green power, electricity reliability, charging infrastructure, heating, hydrogen, storage and building efficiency.

Beijing’s New Energy Roadmap at a Glance

Beijing has issued its 15th Five-Year Plan for a New-Type Energy System, setting out how the capital will secure and decarbonise its energy supply through 2030. For foreign founders registering or operating a company in China, the plan signals where infrastructure, industrial policy and compliance expectations are heading in Beijing.

The document was published on 29 October 2026 and reported by Beijing Daily.

What Changes for Businesses

More reliable and greener electricity

Beijing aims to raise its power supply reliability rate to 99.998% and increase the share of electricity in final energy consumption to 36%. The city plans to expand green power imports and lift the capacity of external power transmission channels to 44 million kilowatts by 2030.

By 2030, Beijing targets 71 billion kWh of imported green electricity, with non-fossil energy rising to 27.6% of energy consumption. New electricity demand is to be met mainly by green power.

For companies with energy-intensive operations, data centres or manufacturing, this points to a grid that is intended to be both more dependable and more compatible with corporate green-power sourcing.

Carbon controls and efficiency

Beijing will apply dual controls on total carbon emissions and carbon intensity, upgrade energy-saving and carbon-reduction measures in key industries, and aims to peak carbon emissions before 2030. The plan expects annual energy consumption growth of about 2.7% during the period, supporting a GDP growth target of 5% per year.

Infrastructure Investors and Site Planners Should Note

• Power grid: Construction of a 500 kV double-ring network, five 500 kV substations and seven 500 kV transmission channels, including projects linked to the Songliao clean energy transmission scheme.
• Gas: New pressure-regulating and distribution facilities, renewal of 6,700 km of older gas pipelines, and replacement of smart gas meters for 2 million households.
• Heating: A more interconnected heating network, upgraded emergency heat sources, and renewal of 3,500 km of older heating pipelines.
• Renewable heating: Geothermal, recycled-water heat pumps and waste-incineration heat recovery, with renewable sources to reach 15% of heating area by 2030.
• Charging: More than 650,000 charging piles by 2030, alongside slow charging in residential areas, fast charging in commercial districts, ultra-fast charging on highways and battery-swap options.

Industrial Opportunities: Eight Energy Sectors

Beijing plans to concentrate advanced energy industries in eight areas: hydrogen, new-type energy storage, fusion energy, wind power, solar power, geothermal, smart grids and integrated energy services.

The spatial layout is described as “one axis driving, five zones supporting”. The axis draws on the science cities of Zhongguancun, Future Science City and Huairou. The five zones cover hydrogen, new-type storage, smart wind and solar, smart grids, and green services.

• Hydrogen: Linked to the Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone, Changping’s “Energy Valley” and the Zhongguancun Fangshan Park, covering production, storage, transport, refuelling and use.
• New-type storage: Flow batteries and sodium-ion battery R&D in the north; storage integration and solid-state battery projects in the south.
• Smart wind and solar: Large-megawatt turbines, new photovoltaic components, green-power-plus-industry models and integrated wind-solar-storage demonstrations.
• Smart grids: Power-sector large models, intelligent dispatch systems and transmission and distribution upgrades.
• Green services: Smart energy services, carbon asset management and green finance, plus vehicle-to-grid charging, virtual power plants and building-integrated photovoltaics in the sub-centre.

Buildings and Transport

Beijing will adjust building energy structures, encourage greater green-power use, electrify building energy use and expand high-rated green buildings, prefabricated construction and ultra-low-energy buildings. It also plans zero-carbon parks and factories.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Beijing added more than 175 million square metres of green buildings, promoted about 5.47 million square metres of ultra-low-energy buildings, and completed energy-saving upgrades to about 32.33 million square metres of public buildings.

On transport, the central urban area’s green travel share is expected to reach 78% by 2030, from 76.5% now. Beijing will pilot zero-emission freight corridors along the Beijing-Tianjin, Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau expressways, connecting Fangshan, Daxing and Yizhuang, with plans to extend the model to other major freight routes.

Practical Takeaways for Foreign Founders

• Check whether your site or sector can benefit from expanded green-power supply and higher reliability.
• Energy, storage, hydrogen, smart-grid and green-service ventures should review the eight priority sectors and five-zone layout.
• Logistics and fleet operators should monitor the zero-emission freight corridor pilot.
• Property and facilities teams should plan for building-efficiency rules and charging infrastructure.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.