Xinjiang seen as cornerstone of renewables strategy

Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region's green electricity consumption reached a historic 43.43 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2025, a staggering 230 percent increase over the previous year, underscoring the region's rapidly expanding role as a cornerstone of China's renewable energy strategy.

Data released by State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co revealed a significant optimization of the region's energy consumption structure.

Of the total volume, approximately 3.17 billion kWh was utilized through direct green power trading, while a dominant 40.26 billion kWh was accounted for through the transaction of over 40 million Green Electricity Certificates, it said.

Industry experts believe this surge highlights the broadening channels available for green energy utilization in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, one of the most resource-rich areas in the nation.

The 230 percent year-on-year increase in green electricity consumption is a staggering growth rate that signals a successful resolution of previous grid bottlenecks, they said.

Xinjiang has successfully transitioned from being a passive resource reserve to an active cornerstone of China's national renewable energy strategy, said Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University.

Managing a grid where 60 percent of capacity is variable, including wind and solar power, requires sophisticated dispatch technology and storage, he said.

"The surge is evidence of broadening channels for green energy utilization, moving beyond local industrial use to a diversified market-based consumption model."

Ye Xiaoning, a senior engineer at the new energy department of the State Grid Energy Research Institute, believes the persistent upgrades of grid and transmission infrastructure in China, the world's largest consumer and producer of renewable energy, have drastically improved the nationwide optimization of renewable energy resources.

According to State Grid, Xinjiang has rapidly consolidated its position as China's premier energy and strategic resource base.

The region has emerged as the definitive vanguard of energy transition with abundant solar and wind resources, serving to bridge the geographic mismatch between the heavy power demand of eastern industrial hubs and western resource abundance, it said.

As a primary clean energy base under national planning, Xinjiang has leveraged its unique geographical advantages to build a massive renewable footprint.

By the end of 2025, the region's installed new energy capacity had surpassed 161 million kilowatts, accounting for more than 60 percent of its total power generation capacity. This robust infrastructure has provided the essential foundation for the record-breaking levels of green power absorption.