China's Renewable Energy Grid Bottlenecks Slow Green Power Expansion

China is rapidly expanding its wind and solar capacity, with more than 500 GW of projects under construction and a total target of 1,360 GW by 2030. A Global Energy Monitor analysis warns that transmission bottlenecks are preventing much of this clean electricity from reaching demand centers. About 315 GW of the planned capacity will rely on long‑distance ultra‑high‑voltage (UHV) lines, but the current five‑year plan provides for only around ten new lines, far fewer than the 27 required. As a result, solar curtailment in north‑western provinces reached 10‑17 % last year and wind curtailment ranged from 4‑9 %, forcing continued reliance on coal. The grid constraints risk delaying China’s goal of having renewables supply more than half of its installed power capacity by 2030.