Document No. 1360 sends a clear signal: the development of new energy will no longer be driven by installed capacity targets, and responsibility for grid absorption will be reallocated.

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Consumption and Regulation of New Energy” (NDRC Energy [2025] No. 1360), which serves as a “guiding” document following the intensive release earlier this year of several policies aimed at facilitating new‑energy consumption.

The document sets out clear phased targets for 2030 and 2035, proposing the establishment of a “coordinated, efficient, multi‑level system for accommodating and regulating new energy,” while laying out comprehensive measures on categorized development, system flexibility, market mechanisms, and pricing frameworks. Industry observers widely agree that this document marks a new stage in China’s new‑energy development, shifting from “ensuring grid absorption” to “system‑wide regulation.”

Intensive policy measures are paving the way,

Document No. 1360 has become the “final piece of the puzzle.”

Since 2025, the national government has successively issued a series of policies to promote the high-quality development of new energy, establishing a relatively comprehensive policy framework that spans price mechanisms, market trading, accountability assessments, and direct access to green electricity.

The “Notice on Deepening Market‑Based Reform of New‑Energy Grid‑Connection Tariffs to Promote High‑Quality Development of New Energy” (NDRC Price [2025] No. 136), issued in February, explicitly stipulates that new‑energy generation prices will be fully market‑based, with tariffs determined through trading. The “Notice on Comprehensively Accelerating the Development of the Electricity Spot Market” (NDRC Office for Institutional Reform [2025] No. 394), released in April, calls for achieving near‑universal coverage of the spot market by year’s end, thereby providing a price‑based foundation for the efficient dispatch and integration of new energy. In May, the “Notice on Matters Concerning the Orderly Promotion of Direct Green‑Electricity Trading” (NDRC Energy [2025] No. 650) introduces “direct green‑electricity connections,” facilitating local consumption of new energy. Finally, the “Notice on the 2025 Renewable Energy Power Consumption Responsibility Weights and Related Matters” (NDRC Office for Energy [2025] No. 669), issued in July, imposes binding quantitative targets on local capacity to absorb renewable power.

Moreover, the September “Notice on Improving the Pricing Mechanism to Promote Local Consumption of New Energy Power Generation” (NDRC Price [2025] No. 1192) for the first time explicitly sets forth requirements for the annual self‑consumption ratio of new energy projects and introduces preferential transmission and distribution tariffs as well as differentiated policies for system service charges.

This series of documents constitutes the “prelude” to integrating new energy into the grid, yet it focuses primarily on localized mechanisms and regional coordination.

The issuance of Document No. 1360 integrates these policies into a comprehensive, system‑level top‑down framework, focusing on grid compatibility to address systemic constraints facing new energy sources in grid connection, dispatch, and trading. It also serves as the “final piece” in a series of national policy documents on new‑energy consumption slated for release by 2025.

The document states that by 2030, a “coordinated and efficient multi-level system for accommodating and regulating new energy will be basically established,” and by 2035, a “new type of power system capable of integrating a high share of new energy will be essentially completed.” It also emphasizes the principles of “systemic thinking, tailored policies, diversified absorption, market‑driven approaches, safety as the foundation, and innovation‑led development.”

This means that the development of new energy will no longer be judged solely by installed capacity; instead, it will be assessed based on the system’s carrying capacity and the maturity of its regulation and control framework.

The Core Logic of the New Energy Integration System

Unlike previous policies that placed greater emphasis on “guaranteeing consumption,” Document No. 1360 places greater focus on building “system‑wide regulatory capabilities.” Its underlying logic can be summarized in three key concepts: tailored policy measures, market‑based coordination, and intelligent dispatch.

First is the adoption of differentiated policies. The document calls for region-specific development strategies tailored to local resource endowments: in “desert, gobi, and barren” areas, it advocates a dual‑pronged approach of both transmission to other regions and local consumption; leveraging the Southwest hydropower base, it promotes an integrated layout of hydropower, wind, and solar energy; it optimizes the transmission of offshore wind power while enhancing local absorption; and at the same time, it expands the deployment of distributed renewable energy and strengthens users’ capacity for self‑regulation. Unlocking additional grid‑connection capacity means that distributed photovoltaic systems, energy storage, and microgrid projects will gain new opportunities.

Secondly, market integration. Document No. 1360 calls for establishing a nationwide unified electricity market system and strengthening the linkage between medium- and long-term trading and the spot market. In the medium- and long-term contract segment, it promotes multi-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) to stabilize revenue expectations for new‑energy projects; in the spot market, it encourages new energy sources to actively participate in day-ahead and real-time trading, thereby enhancing market‑based price discovery; and in the ancillary services market, it seeks to refine cost‑allocation and compensation mechanisms to incentivize energy storage, generation, and demand response to jointly contribute to grid regulation. The document also underscores the need to advance coordinated trading among electricity, certificates, and carbon markets, integrating green certificates, the carbon market, and the electricity market to create diversified channels for capturing the value of new energy.

Third is intelligent dispatch. The document calls for accelerating the development of a new‑generation grid platform that integrates the main grid, distribution network, and microgrids, while bolstering dispatch capabilities at both city‑ and county‑level and strengthening a “visible, measurable, adjustable, and controllable” system. Pumped‑storage hydropower, advanced energy storage, flexible coal‑fired power, and concentrating solar power plants are being incorporated into a multi‑tiered regulation framework, creating a dynamic control network that spans from the generation side to the load side. This also signifies that, in the future, grid operations will no longer be limited to passive absorption; instead, intelligent dispatch will proactively optimize renewable‑energy output, ushering in a new paradigm of “system‑wide adaptation to renewables.”

Grid upgrade,

New energy challenges, expanding energy storage capacity

The implementation of Document No. 1360 is reshaping the industry landscape. For grid operators, the document calls for a comprehensive upgrade in the intelligence of grid control and in cross‑regional transmission capacity—new priorities that not only redefine investment directions but also compel a transformation of operational models. At the transmission‑grid level, efforts will intensify to expand ultra‑high‑voltage corridors and enhance interprovincial mutual support; at the distribution‑grid level, the development of smart distribution networks and incremental distribution systems will accelerate, facilitating greater integration of distributed renewable energy sources; and on the dispatch side, a tiered control framework will be refined, establishing an end‑to‑end intelligent dispatch network spanning national, provincial, and municipal levels. It is foreseeable that grid companies will shift their role in the new power system from mere “transmission‑channel providers” to “system‑platform operators.”

For new‑energy power producers, this policy document represents both an opportunity and a challenge. It opens up greater market space for new‑energy projects—through mechanisms such as PPA contracts, direct green‑power supply, and differentiated pricing schemes—thereby helping to ensure stable project revenues. At the same time, the policy calls on new‑energy operators to “enhance their capacity for reliable substitution” by increasing the share of energy storage integration and improving self‑consumption capabilities. In particular, local‑consumption projects must meet a specified self‑use ratio, which means that developers will need to incorporate more energy storage, combined heat and power systems, and flexible load‑management solutions during the project design phase to achieve “self‑regulation and self‑balancing.” This requirement will compel new‑energy companies to shift their focus from “capacity‑centric” approaches to a “system‑wide capability‑oriented” strategy.

Energy storage and peak‑shaving resources stand to benefit the most. The document proposes refining the capacity‑pricing mechanism to provide stable revenue streams for pumped hydro, emerging forms of energy storage, and flexible coal‑fired power plants, while also stipulating that energy storage must participate in electricity dispatch according to an “integrated curve.” This not only elevates the market standing of energy storage but also opens up a broader range of business models—spanning price arbitrage, ancillary services, and capacity markets—thereby diversifying the profit structures of storage operators. Moreover, flexible regulation mechanisms such as virtual power plants, demand response, and vehicle‑to‑grid integration will be integrated into the system’s control framework, and the degree of market participation by distributed storage and user‑side resources is expected to increase substantially.

From a broader perspective, Document No. 1360, for the first time, frames the issue of integrating new energy into the grid as a matter of power system governance at the national level. This shift signifies that new‑energy development has entered a phase in which “system capacity sets the boundary”: power‑source deployment, grid infrastructure, market rules, pricing mechanisms, and technological innovation must all be realigned to support effective integration and coordinated control.