When wind and solar light up China: How the northwest is reshaping the logic of energy security

Editor's note: Guo Bowei is an associate professor at the School of Applied Economics and the executive director of the Center for Research on Global Energy Strategy at Renmin University of China. Zhang Xuan is a senior engineer at the Energy Research Development Institute at China Southern Power Grid. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

China's energy map has never been naturally balanced. Coal is concentrated in the northwest, major gas resources lie far from the main centers of consumption, and the country's richest wind and solar resources are often located in areas where local demand is relatively weak. In many countries, such a mismatch between resource endowment and demand centers would be seen primarily as a structural disadvantage: it raises transport costs, complicates system management, and can increase supply risks.

Yet China's experience points to a different conclusion. Over the past decades, what could have remained a geographic weakness has gradually been turned into a systemic strength. This is one of the most important but often overlooked dimensions of China's energy transition. The key issue is no longer simply where energy is located, but whether a country can organize resources efficiently across space, across energy types, and across time.

That is why northwestern China matters so much today. Its importance is not only that it is rich in coal, gas, wind and solar resources. More importantly, it has become a crucial anchor in a national energy system that increasingly relies on large-scale coordination. Projects commonly summarized as coal transported from west to east, gas sent from west to east, and electricity transmitted from west to east are not just engineering achievements. Together, they reflect China's effort to integrate fragmented regional energy structures into a broader national system.

From an economic perspective, this is essentially a process of turning spatial mismatch into allocative efficiency. Once energy can move more smoothly across provinces and regions, uneven resource distribution is no longer just a burden. It can become the basis for a more diversified and resilient supply structure. Northwestern China, in this sense, is not merely a resource base. It is part of the architecture through which national energy security is maintained.

But such a transformation does not happen automatically. It depends on a certain kind of system-level coordination capacity. China has been able to sustain long-term investment in cross-regional infrastructure, including power transmission, pipeline networks and transport corridors, while also maintaining the institutional ability to balance short-term security needs with long-term transition goals. This is not simply a matter of state intervention versus market allocation. Rather, it reflects a model in which market development is supported by strong coordination in planning, infrastructure building and system integration.

That capacity matters even more in the era of decarbonization. As China accelerates the development of wind and solar power, especially in its vast desert and arid regions, the role of the northwest is being redefined. In the traditional fossil-fuel era, the region's main task was to supply energy. In the low-carbon era, its role is broader: it is becoming a key provider not only of energy, but also of the conditions for system transformation.

This is because the challenge of energy transition is no longer just about producing more clean energy. It is about organizing the system that can absorb, transmit and use that energy effectively. Wind and solar power are abundant, but they are also variable. Their value depends on whether grid networks are strong enough, whether flexibility resources are adequate, and whether the institutional framework allows electricity to flow where it is needed most. In other words, the core constraint is shifting from generation alone to the broader economics of system operation.

This is where electricity becomes central to the next stage of China's energy security. A more electrified economy, supported by growing renewable generation, can better connect energy supply with industrial production and household demand. For the industry, a stronger power system makes it easier to support new manufacturing clusters, electrified production processes and more stable energy access. For households, it improves the reliability and quality of basic energy services, especially as electricity plays a growing role in heating, cooling and mobility.

From this perspective, developing power systems and renewable energy is not only about climate goals. It is also a practical way to strengthen the foundations of economic and social stability. A diversified electricity system that links northwestern resource bases with eastern and southern demand centers can help reduce dependence on single energy channels, improve the system’s ability to absorb shocks, and provide more stable support for both industrial activity and daily life.

Ultimately, energy security for a large economy is not the security of any single resource. It is the security of the system as a whole. Coal, gas, hydropower, wind and solar each play different roles, but their real value depends on whether they can be coordinated into a reliable, affordable and adaptable structure.

When wind and solar light up China, what we are seeing is not merely a change in the energy mix. We are also witnessing a deeper shift in development logic: a country taking an uneven resource endowment and, through infrastructure, institutions and long-term coordination, turning it into a strategic advantage. For other countries pursuing energy transition, that may be the most important lesson of all. The real question is not only how much clean energy a country can build, but how well it can organize the system that allows clean energy to support both growth and security.