Considering the growing number of requests related to the availability of energy infrastructure, the Distributed Power Generation Association draws attention to China's experience in ensuring affordable electricity supply and streamlining grid connection procedures. Read the Association’s exclusive report.
On June 5, 2025, the Information Bureau of the State Council of China, with the participation of the National Energy Administration of China (Deputy Director Song Hongkun, Director of the Market Supervision Department Hao Ruifeng), the State Electric Grid Corporation of China (CEO Pan Xiaogang) and the Southern Electric Grid Corporation (CEO Qian Chaoyang), held a press conference on the accessibility of electricity for Chinese consumers.
During the press conference, the National Energy Administration of China announced the results of the implementation of the «Three Zeros and Three Savings» electricity access reform, which was launched in September 2020. For almost five years of its implementation, virtually all the goals set at the start of the reform have been fulfilled: «zero in-person visits, zero approval procedures required and zero costs for network connection» for low-voltage consumers applying for connection, and saving time, effort, and money for high-voltage consumers, which saved more than 300 billion yuan for electricity consumers.
As part of the reform, household consumers, small and microenterprises at a low voltage level with a capacity of less than 160 kW are connected to the power grid without charging. According to the National Energy Administration of China, this saved an average of about 60 billion yuan of investments annually.
In China, work continues on automating the procedure for connecting to the power grid. The world’s largest Internet-based power supply system has been created. The State Electric Grid Corporation and the Southern Electric Grid Corporation have implemented online power supply channels. The number of registered users of the State Grid Online and China Southern Power Grid apps applications has exceeded 400 million, more than 97% of all applications are processed online.
In 2024, the average power outage time for urban and rural consumers fell by 28% and 44%, respectively, compared to 2020. In a number of major cities (Beijing, Tianjin, Yangtze Delta and Zhejiang regions), the average outage duration in 2024 was less than 1 hour, in some areas it decreased to the level of several minutes.
Pan Xiaogang, CEO of the State Grid Corporation of China, noted that the company's task is to help reduce the costs of enterprises for electricity supply. As an example, he cited the experience of the Fujian subsidiary, which introduced a mechanism for temporary equipment leasing and energy financing products that reduced operating costs of enterprises.
Qian Chaoyang, CEO of the Southern Electric Grid Corporation, said that investments in the development of rural distribution networks over the period of the 14th five-year plan exceeded 170 billion yuan, of which 31.2 billion yuan will be invested in 2025.
When asked about the impact of the growing share of renewable energy on the sustainability of the energy system, Deputy Director General of the National Energy Administration Song Hongkun said that the following measures are being implemented:
- The construction of renewable energy sources is synchronized with the development of interprovincial transmission of electricity and the modernization of networks in order to shorten the time of power delivery;
- Electricity regulation and grid capacity management systems are being developed;
- The capacity of the distribution network is increasing.
Additionally, special attention is paid to the connection of distributed generation, registration of chargers for electric vehicles, the use of «green» electricity and green certificates.
Hao Ruifeng, Director of the Market Supervision Department, noted that work is underway to reduce costs and connection times, as well as improve the quality of service. Based on that, in many large cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen), the limit for free network connection has been increased from 160 kW to 200 kW.
The terms of technological connection are also reduced. According to the basic standards, the entire low-voltage connection process should not exceed 15 working days. This goal has already been achieved in most regions. It is planned to reduce the time to 5 working days if there is no need for external network construction.
When asked about measures to support private business, Deputy Director Song Hongkun said that initiatives to reduce the cost of electricity are being implemented. In particular, industrial and commercial consumers, shops and farms can take advantage of the free connection, as well as negotiate an expedited procedure with electric grid organizations if there is guaranteed demand for electricity.
