{
  "as_of": "2026-02",
  "latest_period": "2026-06",
  "as_of_note": "as_of is the publication month of the latest provincial view (2025 full year, released 2026-02); build_compute.py reuses it as the date of the curtailment tiers. The newest national figures (h1_national) cover 2026-01 to 2026-06.",
  "name": "Wind and solar curtailment by province — renewable utilization",
  "source": "National Renewable Energy Consumption Monitoring and Early Warning Center / Power Industry Planning Research and Monitoring Early Warning Center (2026-02-06 annual; 2026-01-12 Jan-Nov), NEA press conferences 2026-07-30 (H1 2026 national rates) and 2025-07-31 (H1 2025), NEA / Science and Technology Daily 2025-07-04 \"Has western green-power utilization reached a turning point?\", NEA \"2025 renewable energy grid-connection and operation\" (nea.gov.cn 2026-02-12), NRDC 2025 study on inter-regional power balancing",
  "h1_national": {
    "label": "Official national wind and solar utilization, first half of the year",
    "unit": "% of available output used (NEA utilization rate; share curtailed = 100 minus the rate)",
    "rows": [
      {
        "label": "H1 2026",
        "period": "2026-01 to 2026-06",
        "wind_utilization_pct": 90.9,
        "solar_utilization_pct": 91.4,
        "solar_approx": false,
        "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
        "title": "NEA press conference transcript, 30 July 2026",
        "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. The transcript gives national rates only: no year-on-year change and no provincial rows."
      },
      {
        "label": "H1 2025",
        "period": "2025-01 to 2025-06",
        "wind_utilization_pct": 93.2,
        "solar_utilization_pct": 94,
        "solar_approx": true,
        "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
        "title": "NEA Q3 2025 press conference transcript, 31 July 2025",
        "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 a whole number (94%) in this transcript, so the solar change to H1 2026 is approximate."
      }
    ],
    "provincial_note": "NEA's H1 2026 release gives national rates only. We did not find H1 2026 provincial utilization rates published anywhere, so the province table remains the 2025 full-year view.",
    "basis_note": "Half-year rates are not directly comparable with the full-year 2025 rates (94.3% wind / 94.8% solar): different period and a different release (the monitoring centre's annual report vs NEA's press conference)."
  },
  "capacity_2025": {
    "wind_solar_gw": 1840,
    "share_of_installed_pct": 47,
    "period": "end-2025",
    "publisher": "National Energy Administration (NEA)",
    "title": "2025 renewable energy grid-connection and operation",
    "published": "2026-02-12",
    "note": "Combined wind and solar capacity overtook thermal for the first time."
  },
  "provincial_source": {
    "publisher": "National Renewable Energy Consumption Monitoring and Early Warning Center / Power Industry Planning Research and Monitoring Early Warning Center",
    "title": "2025 provincial new-energy grid connection and absorption (annual release, with the Jan–Nov release of 2026-01-12)",
    "published": "2026-02-06",
    "period": "2025 full year (Tibet utilization: Jan–Nov)",
    "confidence": "curated"
  },
  "national": {
    "wind_2025": 94.3,
    "solar_2025": 94.8,
    "wind_111m": 94.3,
    "solar_111m": 94.8,
    "wind_111m_2024": 96.3,
    "solar_111m_2024": 97.0,
    "solar_dec": 94.6,
    "wind_dec": 94.3,
    "note": "Full year / Jan-Nov 2025: wind utilization 94.3%, solar 94.8%, a clear drop from 96.3% / 97.0% in Jan-Nov 2024. Solar in December alone: 94.6%."
  },
  "worst_solar_2025": [
    {
      "province": "Tibet",
      "utilization": 65.8,
      "utilization_period": "Jan–Nov",
      "monthly_low": 63.8,
      "monthly_low_label": "November 2025",
      "solar_curtailment_pct": 35.1,
      "note": "Jan-Nov 65.8%; November alone 63.8%; full-year solar curtailment rate 35.1%, the highest nationally"
    },
    {
      "province": "Qinghai",
      "utilization": null,
      "solar_curtailment_pct": 16.6,
      "note": "Full-year utilization <90%; solar curtailment rate 16.6%"
    },
    {
      "province": "Xinjiang",
      "utilization": null,
      "solar_curtailment_pct": 13.7,
      "note": "Full-year utilization <90%; solar curtailment rate 13.7%"
    },
    {
      "province": "Gansu",
      "utilization": null,
      "solar_curtailment_pct": 10.4,
      "note": "Full-year solar utilization <90%; solar curtailment rate 10.4%. The Gansu-Zhejiang UHV DC line is expected to lift Gansu's wind and solar utilization from about 85% to over 90% once in service"
    }
  ],
  "below_95_solar_2025": [
    "Hebei",
    "Western Inner Mongolia",
    "Eastern Inner Mongolia",
    "Shaanxi",
    "Ningxia",
    "Yunnan"
  ],
  "full_utilization_solar": [
    "Shanghai",
    "Zhejiang",
    "Fujian",
    "Chongqing"
  ],
  "trends": {
    "installed": "Wind + solar capacity 1,530 GW (end-April 2025); combined wind and solar capacity reached 1,840 GW in 2025 (47% of the total, overtaking thermal for the first time)",
    "west_inflection": "2025-07-04 NEA / Science and Technology Daily: western green-power utilization reaches a turning point. Utilization in the wind- and solar-rich west kept falling through Jan-May, and solar utilization was below 90% in every western province except Ningxia",
    "station_example": "Shenzhen Energy's Shule solar plant: station utilization only 67.61% in Jan-Apr 2025",
    "utility_generation": "CGN New Energy 2024 annual report: wind / solar utilization hours down 3.1% / 16.8% year on year; Datang grid-connected wind 2,127 h (-107 h), solar 1,211 h (-81 h)",
    "curtailment_growth": "In the western provinces, the curtailed share of wind and solar output is still rising",
    "helao_dc": "Hami-Chongqing UHV DC line (Hami to Chongqing, backed by 14.2 GW of dedicated generation, >70% of it wind and solar): once complete it will send 36 TWh a year to Chongqing, >18 TWh of it from wind and solar",
    "longdian_to_zhejiang": "Once in service, the Gansu-Zhejiang UHV DC line can lift Gansu's wind and solar utilization from 85% to over 90%",
    "market_driven": "Market-based on-grid pricing reform for wind and solar (2025-06-01): with time-of-day competition in spot markets, absorption pressure shows up in prices rather than only in utilization rates"
  },
  "headline": [
    {
      "value": "94.3%",
      "label": "2025 wind utilization",
      "sub": "Solar 94.8%; vs 96.3% / 97.0% on the same basis in 2024, a clear decline"
    },
    {
      "value": "35.1%",
      "label": "Tibet solar curtailment rate (full year)",
      "sub": "Highest nationally; Qinghai 16.6%, Xinjiang 13.7%, Gansu 10.4%, all >10%"
    },
    {
      "value": "4",
      "label": "provinces at 100% solar utilization",
      "sub": "Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Chongqing: no curtailment"
    },
    {
      "value": "≥10%",
      "label": "2025 solar curtailment, 4 provinces",
      "sub": "Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Gansu: every resource-rich western province makes the list"
    }
  ],
  "generated_at": "2026-10-14T10:17:16"
}