Beijing and Xinjiang have successfully completed their first time-shifted green electricity trade, transmitting 12 million kilowatt-hours of solar power from Xinjiang to the capital in April.
Source: People's Daily
Beijing and Xinjiang have successfully completed their first time-shifted green electricity trade, transmitting 12 million kilowatt-hours of solar power from Xinjiang to the capital in April. According to the Capital Power Trading Center on May 9, the market-based initiative allowed solar energy generated during Xinjiang’s sunny afternoons to help meet Beijing’s evening electricity demand—effectively lighting up the capital’s night with sunshine from the west.
The electricity was primarily sourced from photovoltaic projects in Altay and Hami in Xinjiang and delivered to Beijing via ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission lines. It was used by landmark institutions such as the National Centre for the Performing Arts, the National Library of China, and the Capital Museum—part of an effort to expand clean energy consumption in the city.
With a two-hour time difference in peak sunlight, Xinjiang’s solar output typically peaks around 3 p.m. in April, while Beijing’s evening power demand rises from 5 p.m. The time-shifted trading model bridges this gap, aligning supply and demand across both geography and time. It allows power producers to better forecast output and fine-tune delivery through hour-level trading curves, tapping into solar energy that would otherwise be wasted.
“This new trading mechanism was jointly developed by the Beijing, Capital, and Xinjiang power trading centers,” said Cui Dongjun, a trader at the Capital Power Trading Center. “It not only boosts the scale of green power delivered to Beijing but also helps Xinjiang make full use of its abundant midday solar resources.”
Xinjiang has become a renewable energy powerhouse, with over 100 gigawatts of installed wind and solar capacity. Since 2025, the Capital Power Trading Center has piloted centralized green electricity auctions across provinces. By early May, more than 32 million kilowatt-hours of electricity had been traded from Xinjiang to Beijing through these platforms.
Beijing has steadily increased its reliance on imported green electricity in recent years. Between 2016 and 2024, the city’s annual consumption of externally sourced green power grew from 9.8 billion to 35 billion kilowatt-hours, raising the share of green electricity in total consumption from 12% to 29%. That figure is expected to surpass 40 billion kilowatt-hours in 2025.
Reproduced article do not represent the position of New Energy Era.