Published by ChinaMNC · Shijingshan

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

A practical overview of Beijing’s new energy plan for 2026–2030, including electricity reliability targets, green power supply, charging infrastructure, heating upgrades and sector-specific opportunities for foreign-invested companies.

Beijing’s Energy Blueprint for the Next Five Years

Beijing has released its New Energy System Plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, setting out how the capital will secure, green and modernise its energy supply through 2030. For foreign founders establishing or operating a company in Beijing, the plan signals where infrastructure spending will go, which industrial clusters will receive support and what operational standards businesses may need to meet.

The document was published on the Beijing municipal government website and reported by Beijing Daily. It combines energy security, carbon reduction, industrial development and household services in one framework.

Reliability and Green Power Targets

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, more than one-third of Beijing’s total electricity consumption came from green power, and non-fossil energy accounted for 21.6% of energy consumption. The new plan raises the non-fossil share to 27.6% and aims to meet most new electricity demand with green power. Beijing will seek to bring in as much as 71 billion kWh of green electricity from outside the city.

According to Zhao Yunlong, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, the plan targets a power supply reliability rate of 99.998%. Electricity is expected to reach 36% of final energy consumption. The plan is designed to support average annual GDP growth of 5%, with energy consumption projected to grow about 2.7% a year, 0.3 percentage points faster than in the previous five-year period.

Beijing will apply dual controls on total carbon emissions and carbon intensity, upgrade energy-saving and carbon-reduction measures in key industries and aim to peak carbon emissions before 2030.

Grid, Gas and Heating Infrastructure

Li Rugang, a first-level inspector and spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Urban Management Commission, outlined construction plans across electricity, gas and heating.

• Electricity: Beijing will build a 500 kV three-dimensional double-ring network and bring five 500 kV substations into operation, including facilities in Science City, CBD, Fengtai, Fenghuangling and Yingcheng. Seven 500 kV transmission channels are planned, including Xijiaying–Fangshan, Xiong’an–Xinhangcheng, Beijing East–Tongbei, Langfang North–Yizhuang and the second phase of Zhuozhou. By 2030, external power receiving capacity is targeted at 44 million kW.
• Gas: The plan includes the Qinglonghu pressure regulating station and the Miyun gate station gas distribution channel, plus renovation of 6,700 km of older gas pipelines and replacement of smart gas meters for 2 million households. Storage and peak-shaving capacity will be improved, and a Yungang LPG supply base developed.
• Heating: Beijing will strengthen the main urban heating network, remove bottlenecks and improve zoning and connectivity. New links include Yinhe Avenue and Guangqu Road, with regional networks in Shibalidian, Dongba and the southern central axis. Emergency heat source upgrades are planned for the First and Second Hot Water Plants. Renovation of 3,500 km of older heating pipelines is intended to improve resilience.

Heating will also become greener. The plan prioritises geothermal energy, reclaimed-water heat pumps and waste-incineration heat recovery. By 2030, renewable energy is targeted to supply 15% of heating area. Online room-temperature monitoring is to cover all urban residential buildings with central heating, with 500,000 collection devices installed.

Charging Network and Green Transport

By 2030, Beijing aims to have more than 650,000 charging piles in place, covering slow charging in residential areas, fast charging in commercial districts, ultra-fast charging on highways and battery-swapping facilities.

The share of green travel in the central urban area reached 76.5% during the 14th Five-Year Plan period and is targeted to reach 78% by 2030.

Beijing also plans zero-emission freight corridors. Li Zejun, deputy director and spokesperson of the Beijing Municipal Transport Commission, said the “three corridors and three areas” pilot will use the Beijing–Tianjin, Beijing–Shanghai and Beijing–Hong Kong–Macao expressways as backbone routes, linking the Fangshan, Daxing and Yizhuang industrial clusters. The approach combines new-energy heavy trucks, charging, battery-swapping and hydrogen refuelling facilities, and smart scheduling. The model may later extend to the Beijing–Harbin, Beijing–Guangzhou and Beijing–Taipei expressways.

Advanced Energy Industry Clusters

Beijing has already developed clusters including the Daxing International Hydrogen Energy Demonstration Zone, the Fangshan New Energy Storage Demonstration Zone and the Changping “Energy Valley”. Su Guobin, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Economy and Information Technology Bureau, said the next phase will focus on eight segments: hydrogen, new 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 Zhongguancun Science City, Future Science City and Huairou Science City to build a full innovation chain from basic research to standards. The five zones are:

• Hydrogen: linking Daxing, Changping and Zhongguancun Fangshan Park to build a production, storage, transport, refuelling and use ecosystem and a Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei green hydrogen supply network.
• New energy storage: northern bases in Zhongguancun Science City and Changping for flow batteries and sodium-ion batteries; southern bases in Fangshan and the Economic-Technological Development Area for storage integration and solid-state batteries.
• Smart wind and solar: led by companies in the Economic-Technological Development Area, Changping and Yanqing, targeting large-megawatt turbines and new photovoltaic modules.
• Smart grids: drawing on Haidian, Changping and the Economic-Technological Development Area for power models and intelligent dispatch systems.
• Green services: in the central districts for smart energy services, carbon asset management and green finance, plus large-scale applications such as vehicle-to-grid charging, virtual power plants and building-integrated photovoltaics in the sub-center.

Buildings and Energy Efficiency

Zhao Yong, a second-level inspector at the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said the plan will adjust building energy structures, expand renewable energy and electrification, and develop high-star green buildings, prefabricated buildings, ultra-low-energy buildings, zero-carbon parks and zero-carbon 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 of about 32.33 million square metres of public buildings. The city will continue public-building energy efficiency grading, energy-saving operation services and contract energy management.

Practical Implications for Foreign Founders

Foreign-invested companies in manufacturing, logistics, real estate, property management or technology should note that the plan creates demand in charging infrastructure, hydrogen and storage equipment, smart grid software, building retrofit services, geothermal and heat-pump systems, and carbon management. Companies with high electricity use may face stricter efficiency and carbon expectations, while green power availability is set to improve.

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