{
 "as_of": "2026-06",
 "name": "First half of 2026: curtailment, storage and build pace",
 "compiled": "2026-10-13",
 "note": "Curated, cited snapshot. Every block lists its original publisher, a link, the period it covers and a confidence level. Derived figures (differences, ratios) are computed by the page, not stored here.",
 "confidence_key": {
  "verified": "Read on the original publisher's own page or document.",
  "secondary": "Reported by a named outlet that cites the original publisher; the original was not read."
 },
 "row_fields": {
  "value_confidence": "Optional per-value override of the row's confidence, for a figure that could not be confirmed on the cited page.",
  "published_precision": "Optional: decimal places the publisher gave for a value, in the stored unit (0 = whole number, -1 = rounded to tens). Figures derived from such a value are shown as approximate."
 },
 "blocks": {
  "curtailment_h1": {
   "label": "Official wind and solar utilization, first half of the year",
   "unit": "% of available output used (NEA utilization rate; share curtailed = 100 minus the rate)",
   "note": "The NEA rate counts curtailment reported for system reasons (grid congestion, lack of flexibility). It is the official measure.",
   "rows": [
    {
     "label": "H1 2026",
     "period": "2026-01 to 2026-06",
     "values": {
      "wind_utilization_pct": 90.9,
      "solar_utilization_pct": 91.4
     },
     "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
     "title": "NEA press conference transcript, 30 July 2026",
     "title_zh": "国家能源局新闻发布会文字实录",
     "url": "https://www.nea.gov.cn/20260730/3ce671c387574eeeb120fc3825be0399/c.html",
     "published": "2026-07-30",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "全国风电平均利用率90.9% … 全国光伏发电利用率91.4%",
     "notes": "Stated by Pan Huimin, deputy director of NEA's new and renewable energy department. Reuters (2026-08-17) reports the complements, 9.1% of wind and 8.6% of solar output curtailed."
    },
    {
     "label": "H1 2025",
     "period": "2025-01 to 2025-06",
     "values": {
      "wind_utilization_pct": 93.2,
      "solar_utilization_pct": 94
     },
     "published_precision": {
      "solar_utilization_pct": 0
     },
     "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
     "title": "NEA Q3 2025 press conference transcript, 31 July 2025",
     "title_zh": "国家能源局2025年第三季度新闻发布会文字实录",
     "url": "https://www.nea.gov.cn/20250731/83ffa46373ec42dd99e0e3271028c151/c.html",
     "published": "2025-07-31",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "全国风电平均利用率93.2% … 全国光伏发电平均利用率94%",
     "notes": "Same NEA release series as H1 2026. NEA rounds the solar rate to 94% in this transcript."
    }
   ]
  },
  "crea_estimate": {
   "label": "Estimated wind and solar curtailment including unreported curtailment",
   "unit": "TWh; % for rates and year-on-year change",
   "note": "Not the official measure. CREA and GEM add an estimate of unreported curtailment to the reported figures.",
   "rows": [
    {
     "label": "H1 2026",
     "period": "2026-01 to 2026-06",
     "values": {
      "curtailment_twh": 360,
      "curtailment_yoy_pct": 49,
      "combined_rate_pct": 26.1,
      "combined_rate_prior_pct": 19.7,
      "demand_growth_twh": 258
     },
     "method": "Reported curtailment plus estimated unreported curtailment. The unreported part is predicted from weather: regression models fitted on reported monthly utilization and weather conditions (temperature, wind speed, irradiation, humidity) for 2020-2023, using China Electricity Council provincial data.",
     "publisher": "Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM)",
     "title": "Built for backup, contracted to run: China's coal support system risks crowding out clean power (H1 2026 coal power review)",
     "url": "https://energyandcleanair.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CREA_GEM_China_Coal-power-review_H1-2026.pdf",
     "published": "2026-08-06",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "Estimated wind and solar curtailment, including both reported and unreported curtailment, reached 360 TWh in H1 2026, up 49% year-on-year. … The combined curtailment rate rose from 19.7% to 26.1%. Curtailed wind and solar generation alone exceeded the 258 TWh of power demand growth.",
     "notes": "Report dated August 2026; companion CREA press release dated 6 August 2026. A '401 TWh' figure seen elsewhere does not appear in any CREA or GEM publication and is not used."
    }
   ]
  },
  "coal_contracts": {
   "label": "Coal's contract floor and the H1 2026 coal build",
   "unit": "% of previous year's delivered electricity; GW",
   "note": "CREA and GEM's summary of the 2026 medium- and long-term contract rules: the annual requirement is 70% of the previous year's on-grid electricity, and provinces may lower it but in principle not below 60%.",
   "rows": [
    {
     "label": "H1 2026",
     "period": "2026-01 to 2026-06 (contract rule: calendar 2026)",
     "values": {
      "contract_floor_low_pct": 60,
      "contract_floor_high_pct": 70,
      "coal_commissioned_gw": 30,
      "coal_commissioned_yoy_pct": 43,
      "coal_retired_gw": 2.7
     },
     "publisher": "Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM)",
     "title": "Built for backup, contracted to run: China's coal support system risks crowding out clean power (H1 2026 coal power review)",
     "url": "https://energyandcleanair.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/CREA_GEM_China_Coal-power-review_H1-2026.pdf",
     "published": "2026-08-06",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "coal generators in 2026 are still expected to sign annual contracts covering 60-70% of the previous year's delivered electricity … China commissioned 30 GW of new coal power, up 43% from last year, while retiring only 2.7 GW.",
     "notes": "Coal-only figures from the CREA/GEM plant tracker, not NEA thermal (which includes gas)."
    }
   ]
  },
  "storage_installed": {
   "label": "New-type energy storage in operation (NEA)",
   "unit": "GW power / GWh energy",
   "note": "NEA's new-type storage category excludes pumped hydro and is mostly lithium-ion batteries; at end-2025 lithium-ion was 96.1% of capacity and compressed air, flow batteries and flywheels together 3.9%.",
   "rows": [
    {
     "label": "End-June 2026",
     "period": "as of 2026-06-30",
     "values": {
      "power_gw": 153,
      "energy_gwh": 396,
      "power_yoy_pct": 61
     },
     "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
     "title": "NEA press conference transcript, 30 July 2026",
     "title_zh": "国家能源局新闻发布会文字实录",
     "url": "https://www.nea.gov.cn/20260730/3ce671c387574eeeb120fc3825be0399/c.html",
     "published": "2026-07-30",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "截至6月底，全国已建成投运新型储能装机规模达1.53亿千瓦/3.96亿千瓦时，同比增长61%。",
     "notes": "Stated by Xu Jilin, deputy director of NEA's energy conservation and technology equipment department. NEA does not say whether the 61% refers to GW or GWh; GW against end-June 2025 (94.91 GW) gives +61.2%."
    },
    {
     "label": "End-2025",
     "period": "as of 2025-12-31",
     "values": {
      "power_gw": 136,
      "energy_gwh": 351,
      "growth_vs_prior_year_pct": 84,
      "avg_duration_hours": 2.58,
      "lithium_ion_share_pct": 96.1,
      "other_tech_share_pct": 3.9
     },
     "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
     "title": "NEA press conference on new-type energy storage in 2025, 30 January 2026",
     "title_zh": "国家能源局举行新闻发布会介绍2025年新型储能发展情况",
     "url": "https://www.nea.gov.cn/20260130/50f657ce87f848e1a9a1861d1fd9aa23/c.html",
     "published": "2026-01-30",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "截至2025年底，全国已建成投运新型储能装机规模达到1.36亿千瓦/3.51亿千瓦时 … 锂离子电池储能仍占主导地位，装机占比达96.1%，压缩空气储能、液流电池储能及飞轮电池储能等装机占比合计3.9%。",
     "notes": "Same figures carried by China Energy News on NEA's 2025 power market report (2026-06-15, https://paper.people.com.cn/zgnyb/pc/content/202606/15/content_30163607.html). The 30 July 2026 transcript also gives 1.36亿千瓦 for the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan."
    },
    {
     "label": "End-June 2025",
     "period": "as of 2025-06-30",
     "values": {
      "power_gw": 94.91,
      "energy_gwh": 222
     },
     "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
     "title": "NEA Q3 2025 press conference transcript, 31 July 2025",
     "title_zh": "国家能源局2025年第三季度新闻发布会文字实录",
     "url": "https://www.nea.gov.cn/20250731/83ffa46373ec42dd99e0e3271028c151/c.html",
     "published": "2025-07-31",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "全国新型储能装机规模达到9491万千瓦/2.22亿千瓦时",
     "notes": "Year-earlier comparator for the end-June 2026 figure."
    }
   ]
  },
  "storage_hours": {
   "label": "New-type storage equivalent utilization hours (NEA)",
   "unit": "hours per year",
   "note": "NEA's own measure of how hard the storage fleet works: annual throughput expressed as hours at full rated power.",
   "rows": [
    {
     "label": "2023-2025",
     "period": "calendar years 2023, 2024, 2025",
     "values": {
      "hours_2023": 611,
      "hours_2024": 911,
      "hours_2025": 1195
     },
     "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
     "title": "NEA press conference transcript, 30 July 2026",
     "title_zh": "国家能源局新闻发布会文字实录",
     "url": "https://www.nea.gov.cn/20260730/3ce671c387574eeeb120fc3825be0399/c.html",
     "published": "2026-07-30",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "2023年、2024年、2025年全国新型储能等效利用小时数分别达到611小时、911小时、1195小时",
     "notes": "The 2025 value (1,195 h) also appears in NEA's 30 January 2026 storage press conference, there labelled preliminary."
    }
   ]
  },
  "battery_cycles": {
   "label": "Utility-scale battery cycles per year",
   "unit": "full charge-discharge cycles per year",
   "note": "Ember compiles utilization from the China Electricity Council's annual electrochemical storage statistics. Co-located batteries sit at wind or solar plants; standalone batteries connect to the grid on their own.",
   "rows": [
    {
     "label": "2022 and 2025",
     "period": "calendar years 2022 and 2025",
     "values": {
      "standalone_2022": 146,
      "standalone_2025": 299,
      "co_located_2022": 80,
      "co_located_2025": 199,
      "benchmark_cycles_per_year": 350
     },
     "publisher": "Ember",
     "title": "From scale to system: navigating the next phase of China's battery storage",
     "url": "https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/from-scale-to-system-navigating-the-next-phase-of-chinas-battery-storage/",
     "published": "2026-07-16",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "renewable co-located BESS utilisation rose from 80 to 199 cycles, while standalone systems increased from 146 to 299 cycles. … internationally, 350 cycles per year, around one cycle per operation day, is considered an optimised standard for the current technology.",
     "notes": "2022 values are attributed by Ember to the China Electricity Council (co-located 'around 80'). Author: Biqing Yang, Ember."
    }
   ]
  },
  "additions": {
   "label": "New wind and solar capacity connected (NEA)",
   "unit": "GW",
   "note": "Solar here is NEA's solar power category, which includes a small amount of solar-thermal capacity; PV alone is listed alongside.",
   "rows": [
    {
     "label": "H1 2025",
     "period": "2025-01 to 2025-06",
     "values": {
      "solar_gw": 212,
      "solar_pv_gw": 212,
      "wind_gw": 51.39
     },
     "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
     "title": "NEA Q3 2025 press conference transcript, 31 July 2025",
     "title_zh": "国家能源局2025年第三季度新闻发布会文字实录",
     "url": "https://www.nea.gov.cn/20250731/83ffa46373ec42dd99e0e3271028c151/c.html",
     "published": "2025-07-31",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "风电新增5139万千瓦，太阳能发电新增2.12亿千瓦 … 全国光伏新增并网2.12亿千瓦",
     "notes": "NEA gives solar to 0.01 billion kW (1 GW) precision here."
    },
    {
     "label": "2025",
     "period": "2025-01 to 2025-12",
     "values": {
      "solar_gw": 318,
      "solar_pv_gw": 317,
      "wind_gw": 120
     },
     "published_precision": {
      "wind_gw": -1
     },
     "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
     "title": "Renewable energy grid connection and operation in 2025",
     "title_zh": "2025年可再生能源并网运行情况",
     "url": "https://www.nea.gov.cn/20260212/742b8c6a078347b0b39de676c05c5d58/c.html",
     "published": "2026-02-12",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "风电新增1.2亿千瓦，太阳能发电新增3.18亿千瓦 … 全国光伏新增装机3.17亿千瓦，同比增长14% … 全国风电新增装机容量1.2亿千瓦，同比增长51%",
     "notes": "Record year. NEA rounds full-year wind to 0.1 billion kW (about 120 GW). Its companion release the same day ('2025年我国风电太阳能发电新增装机超4.3亿千瓦', https://www.nea.gov.cn/20260212/d9f714e91a7f40d39282d87e384ea94a/c.html) gives wind plus solar above 430 GW, up 22.0%."
    },
    {
     "label": "H1 2026",
     "period": "2026-01 to 2026-06",
     "values": {
      "solar_gw": 72.07,
      "solar_pv_gw": 71.77,
      "wind_gw": 38.62,
      "wind_offshore_gw": 0.84
     },
     "value_confidence": {
      "solar_pv_gw": "secondary"
     },
     "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
     "title": "NEA press conference transcript, 30 July 2026",
     "title_zh": "国家能源局新闻发布会文字实录",
     "url": "https://www.nea.gov.cn/20260730/3ce671c387574eeeb120fc3825be0399/c.html",
     "published": "2026-07-30",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "风电新增并网3862万千瓦，太阳能发电新增并网7207万千瓦",
     "notes": "Wind: onshore 37.78 GW, offshore 0.84 GW. The PV-only figure (71.77 GW, of which 29.55 GW centralised and 42.22 GW distributed) was not re-confirmed on the transcript page, so it is marked secondary; the 0.3 GW gap to all solar power is unexplained."
    }
   ]
  },
  "pricing_cutoff": {
   "label": "The 1 June 2025 cut-off in the new-energy pricing reform",
   "unit": "date",
   "note": "Wind and solar projects in operation before 1 June 2025 count as existing projects and keep pricing linked to existing policy; projects from 1 June 2025 onward are new projects whose support price is set by provincial auctions.",
   "rows": [
    {
     "label": "Document No. 136 (2025)",
     "period": "cut-off date 2025-06-01",
     "values": {
      "cutoff_date": "2025-06-01"
     },
     "publisher": "National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and National Energy Administration (NEA)",
     "title": "Notice on deepening the market-based reform of new-energy on-grid electricity prices (Document No. 136, 2025)",
     "title_zh": "关于深化新能源上网电价市场化改革 促进新能源高质量发展的通知（发改价格〔2025〕136号）",
     "url": "https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/tz/202502/t20250209_1396066.html",
     "published": "2025-02-09",
     "confidence": "verified",
     "excerpt": "2025年6月1日以前投产的新能源存量项目 … 2025年6月1日起投产的新能源增量项目",
     "notes": "Context only: the document sets the cut-off; it does not state how much capacity was brought forward."
    }
   ]
  }
 },
 "generated_at": "2026-10-14T15:17:16.348455+00:00",
 "source_file": "data/sources/h1_2026.json"
}