- Wind and solar supply only about 20% of electricity transmitted through China’s UHVDC network, while coal accounts for 42%.
- China may need 27 new long-distance transmission lines by 2030, but its next five-year plan is expected to include only 10.
- Proposed megabase-linked lines combine 129 GW of wind and solar with 40 GW of coal, raising questions about coal’s stated supporting role.
China is building renewable energy infrastructure at a scale unmatched anywhere in the world. Yet the transmission system carrying that electricity to coastal cities remains heavily dependent on coal, according to a Global Energy Monitor report.
Wind and solar provide around 20% of the electricity transmitted through China’s ultra-high voltage direct current network. That share has barely changed since 2021. Coal, by comparison, accounts for 42% of transmitted power.
The findings expose a central tension in China’s energy transition. Beijing is rapidly expanding renewable generation across its northern and western regions. However, coal remains embedded in the system designed to deliver that electricity to major demand centres.
Transmission gap threatens megabase expansion
China’s energy megabase strategy concentrates vast wind and solar developments in sparsely populated regions. These include Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu and other areas with strong renewable resources and available land.
Electricity from these projects must travel thousands of kilometres to factories and urban centres in eastern China. UHVDC lines are critical because they can move large volumes of power over long distances with relatively low losses.
The Global Energy Monitor estimates that 315 gigawatts of megabase capacity will require outbound transmission by 2030. Supporting that capacity could require 27 UHVDC lines.
China aims to include 10 lines in its five-year plan for 2026 to 2030. The gap raises execution risks for renewable developers, grid operators and industrial users seeking access to cleaner power.
Delayed transmission could also increase curtailment. This occurs when renewable plants produce electricity that the grid cannot absorb or transport. For investors, inadequate grid infrastructure can weaken project economics even when generation capacity expands rapidly.
Coal remains built into new projects
The 11 transmission lines currently proposed for renewable megabases would connect 129 GW of wind and solar capacity with 40 GW of coal generation.
Based on projected electricity volumes, the power transmitted through those lines would be divided almost evenly between coal and renewable sources.
That composition challenges China’s official position that coal will serve mainly as a flexible support source. Coal plants are often included in megabase projects to provide stable output when wind and solar generation falls.
However, Global Energy Monitor argues that storage and other flexibility technologies should provide more of this balancing capacity.
“The high proportion of coal is hard to square with policymakers’ framing of coal as having only a supporting role in China’s power system,” said report author Aiqun Yu, senior East Asia strategist for GEM.
Yu said renewable bases should use energy storage technologies to back up intermittent renewables, instead of coal.
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Kubuqi project offers a different model
A proposed UHVDC line connecting the Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia with Shanghai illustrates how the balance could shift.
Renewables are expected to provide more than 60% of the electricity transmitted through the line. The project includes 9,000 megawatt hours of energy storage and 2.64 GW of coal capacity.
Comparable projects often include around 4 GW of coal. The lower coal allocation suggests storage can reduce the need for fossil fuel backup without removing reliability safeguards.
“This is a small step forward,” Yu said.
The project could provide a template for future transmission planning. However, broader progress will depend on storage costs, grid reforms and rules that reward flexibility rather than continuous coal generation.
Global climate stakes continue to rise
China’s renewable pipeline remains enormous. As of June 2026, the country had 664 GW of solar capacity planned or under construction. That represents one-third of the global total.
China also had 698 GW of proposed wind capacity, equal to one-quarter of the worldwide pipeline.
For corporate buyers and investors, the quality of China’s renewable expansion now matters as much as its scale. New capacity will deliver limited decarbonisation benefits if coal retains a large share of transmitted electricity.
The challenge is therefore shifting from construction to integration. China must align transmission, storage and market design with its renewable ambitions.
How Beijing resolves that tension will influence industrial emissions, clean power procurement and global progress toward climate targets. It will also determine whether the world’s largest renewable buildout can reduce coal dependence at the speed required.
Read China’s Wind and Solar Megabases Face a Coal Test Report by Global Energy Monitor here.
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