Northwestern China's Shaanxi province is anticipated to advance its renewable energy capacity to over 85 GW by 2026, according to a three-year action plan (2024-2026) released by the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

Non-fossil fuel installations are expected to account for more than 55% of the province's total, with annual renewable energy generation expected to reach about 100 TWh, the plan said.

The utilization of renewable energy is forecast to exceed 30 million tonnes of standard coal equivalent annually by 2026, contributing to non-fossil fuel consumption surpassing 16%.

The proportion of renewable energy in cumulative electricity consumption will reach 35% by 2026, while non-hydropower renewable sources may represent 30%. The increase in electricity fueled by renewables is expected to contribute about 80% of the growth in total electricity consumption.

Shaanxi strives to build a diversified and integrated energy system in which renewables play a vital role by 2030. It targets achieving a renewable energy installed capacity of around 120 GW, with non-fossil fuels making up about 60% of local self-use installations. Non-fossil fuel consumption is set to hit about 20% by 2030.

To advance this transformation, the province plans to annually allocate competitive bidding for 10 GW of renewable energy projects, ensuring a steady pipeline of initiatives. By 2026, it intends to establish large-scale renewable energy hubs in Yulin (20 GW), Yan'an (10 GW) and Weinan (10 GW), alongside 20 counties with 1 GW renewable energy demonstration zones.

Shaanxi seeks to enhance inter-provincial renewable energy power transmission capabilities, aiming for an outbound transmission capacity of 40 TWh per annum of new energy power by 2026. Additionally, cross-provincial renewable energy trading will be expanded to support at least 13 TWh per annum of renewable electricity inflows.

Meanwhile, the province will vigorously promote the construction of new energy storage facilities, targeting an installed capacity of over 2 GW by 2026. The plan also outlined advanced progress on pumped storage projects, with projected capacity outpacing 10 GW by the same year.

Meanwhile, Shaanxi will continuously make efforts to expedite green certificate issuance, including full coverage of existing centralized projects and increasing the registration ratio of distributed projects to over 95% by the end of 2024, according to the action plan.

The province will strengthen the integration of green certificates with energy-saving and carbon-reduction policies, expanding their applications in exports and product labeling. Standardized procedures for intra-provincial green electricity transactions and coordination of cross-provincial trades will be implemented to ensure stable transaction volumes.