// CHINA ENERGY GUIDES
China Energy Guides
100 English-only guides to reading China's energy sector from primary documents: standards, policy notices, financial filings and manufacturer datasheets. Every guide names the document behind each figure and states what it does not cover. Companions to the Chinese edition; where a figure differs, the Chinese source prevails.
The 100 guides are grouped into 7 topics: market (27), storage (26), solar (21), procurement (7), analysis (6), grid (5) and wind (8). Each entry below shows its last update date. 3 core references explain how the company database and its value chain are organised.
// CORE REFERENCES
// CNWATTHUB MARKET GUIDE
- How to Read a Chinese Renewable PPA: Market Price, Mechanism Price, Green Certificates and Time-of-UseUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read a Power Purchase Agreement for Industrial Users in China: Market Entry and Agency Purchasing, the Price Build-Up and Fourth-Period T&D Tariffs, Retail Contracts and Packages, Multi-Year Green Power Contracts, and Green Direct ConnectionUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Read China Electricity Price Forecasts: Which Price Is Being Forecast, the Bands and Limits That Bound It, the Forecast Data Operators Must Disclose, Time-of-Use Ratios, Agency, Mechanism and Capacity Prices, and the 2025–2026 Volume SignalsUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Capacity Payments and Ancillary-Services Market: Coal Capacity Price, Pumped-Storage Two-Part Tariff, and the 2025 Basic RulesUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Carbon Market and CCER for Energy Projects: Project Eligibility (Real, Unique, Additional; Started After 8 November 2012; Reductions After 22 September 2020), the Energy Methodologies (Deep-Sea Offshore Wind >30 km / >30 m with Additionality Exempt and a 10-Year Crediting Period; CSP; Coal-Mine Methane <8%), the Green-Certificate Interface, the 5% Offset Rule and the Registry's 2025 Offset Procedure, and the First CCER PricesUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Read China's Carbon Market as an Energy Company: Who Is Covered, How a Power Plant's Allowance Is Computed, the 2026 Reporting and Surrender Calendar, Offsets, Penalties, and What Changes by 2027 and 2030Updated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Coal Power Capacity Pricing: The 2021 Energy-Price Band, the 330 元/kW·yr Base and the 100/165 Provincial Table, the Deduction Rules, the 2026 Increase and Floor Change, and the Flexibility and Carbon Indicators in the 2024–2025 Coal PlansUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Electricity Market Ancillary Service Fees: the Four Named Products and Their Fee Elements (Peak Regulation From Clearing Price With Awarded and Actual Output or Start-Stop Count; Frequency Regulation From Clearing Price × Mileage × Performance Coefficient, With the Coefficient in Principle Capped at 2 and the Mileage Price at 0.015 Yuan/kW; Reserve and Ramping From Awarded Capacity, Time and Price), Who Pays (In Principle No Pass-Through to Users Without a Continuously Running Spot Market; With One, Qualifying Frequency-Regulation and Reserve Fees Shared Between User Consumption and Non-Market Grid-Fed Energy in a Provincially Set Ratio; Independent Storage and VPPs Allocated on Grid-Fed or Grid-Drawn Energy), the Peak-Regulation Price Cap (In Principle the Local Grid-Parity New-Energy Tariff) and the Bill Rules (Balanced Budget, Each Product Listed Separately, Never Bundled; 'Daily Clearing, Monthly Settlement' Where Spot Runs Continuously) — With the Southern Region's 2025 Storage Rules as a Worked Regional ExampleUpdated 2026-10-25
- How to Read China's Electricity Market Capacity and Balance: the Reserve Rules (2–5% Load Reserve, ~10% Contingency Reserve), the Four-Grade Supply-Gap Warning (Red at a Gap of at Least 20%), Capacity Trading and Reliable-Capacity Compensation in the 2024–2026 Texts, Demand Response as a Balancing Resource, and the 2025–2026 Peak-Load Numbers (1.553 Billion kW; No Demand Response or Orderly Power Use Reported to 30 July 2026)Updated 2026-10-24
- How to Read China's Electricity Market Credit Risk: NEA's Draft National Credit Evaluation Guideline (October 2026; A/B/C/D Grades, an In-Principle Quarterly Cycle, Guarantee Amounts That May Be Lowered or Raised by Grade), the 2026 State Council Opinions, Retailer Performance Guarantees (the Larger of Two Floors: 0.8 fen/kWh of 12-Month Wholesale Volume or 5 fen/kWh of the Larger Two-Month Wholesale/Retail Volume), and How Default Is Handled Under the Spot, Medium/Long-Term and Settlement RulesUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Read China's Electricity Market Forecasting Services: Who Is Allowed to Forecast (the CMA's Unified Public-Forecast System; Other Departments' Observatories Limited to In-System Specialised Forecasts), What a Station Must Forecast (Medium-Term 240 h Before 9:00, Ultra-Short-Term Every 15 Minutes; Southern Region 2025 Accuracy Floors of 40/60/65% for Wind and 45/65/70% for PV, Assessed per Percentage Point at Installed Capacity × 0.2 or × 1 Hour × a Provincial Coefficient, Capped at 10 or 5 Hours a Month), What the Market Discloses (Load, Tie-Line, New-Energy and Hydro Forecasts Before Declarations Open), the 2026 CMA–NEA Targets (87%/89% 24-Hour Power-Forecast Accuracy; a Trading Meteorological Service Platform Under Task 11) and the Vendor Layer (One Listed Vendor's 4,345 Stations and >95% Renewal Rate, by Its Own Account)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Read China's Electricity Market Settlement: the 2025 Metering and Settlement Rules (Settlement Basis vs Bill, 'Daily Clearing, Monthly Settlement' in Principle Where Spot Runs Continuously, the 5th/8th/10th Working-Day Timetable with Bills in Principle by the 10th, Payment in Principle Within 5 Working Days of Invoice, a Correction Look-Back in Principle of No More Than 12 Months), the Two Spot Settlement Methods, Medium/Long-Term Reference Points and the Document 136 Difference SettlementUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Read China's Electricity Market Trading Fees: Who May Charge (Non-Profit Exchanges; Shared-Asset Exchanges in Principle Charge Nothing, Their Cost Counted and Separately Listed in Transmission-and-Distribution Cost and Paid by the Grid Company; Fees Need Market Management Committee Consent and Public Accounts), What Is Charged (Guangzhou 2026: 16,500 Yuan per 100 Million kWh on Inter-Provincial Medium/Long-Term and Cross-Area Trades, 5,200 on Spot Deviation Volume, Registration and Annual Fees Not Collected for the Time Being; Guangdong 2025–2027: 0.11 Yuan/MWh Annual/Monthly, 0.12 Weekly/Spot, Q4 2024 Waived) and Which Other Lines Sit on the Bill (Line-Loss Charge, T&D Price, System Operation Charges, Government Funds, Ancillary-Service Shares Listed Separately)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Read China's Electricity Market Trading Rules: The 1+N Basic Rules, Registration, Medium/Long-Term and Green-Power Trading, Checks, Settlement Calendar and SupervisionUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Electricity Retail Market: Who Must Buy in the Market, Grid-Company Agency Purchase, Retail Contracts and Packages, Retailer Entry and Collateral, Settlement and Exit, and the 2025 Retail ReformsUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Electricity Spot Market Prices: Day-Ahead vs Real-Time, Nodal vs Zonal, Price Limits, and How a Contract Settles Against ThemUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Electricity-Market Trading Credit Support: the Three Instruments the National Rules Name (Performance Guarantee Letter, Security Deposit, 'Other Settlement Collateral'; Performance Insurance in the Spot Rules), Who Lodges Them (Retailers and New Business Entities), How They Are Drawn (Spot Rules Article 103: Default Notice → Grid Applies → Trading Institution Claims on the Issuer → Suspension and Credit Record; Settlement Rules: Ten Working Days After Invoice for Retailers Without Distribution-Network Operating Rights), How They Cap a Bidder (Bid-Volume Limits Set by Assets, Guarantee Amount and Users' History; Jiangxi's Trial Rule Cancels Eligibility for Non-Lodgement After a Written Reminder), and How the 2026 Draft National Credit Guideline 'May' Scale Them (A-Grade: Amount 'Appropriately' Lowered, Forms Extended; C/D-Grade: Amount 'Appropriately' Raised, No Incremental Insurance; A–D Grades, in Principle Quarterly, From Public Credit, Audited Financials and Trading Conduct)Updated 2026-10-26
- How to Read China's Green Certificate Market: GEC Issuance, One-Trade Rule, Two-Year Validity and the Consumption Weights Behind DemandUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Green Certificate Trading and Pricing: the 2025 Implementing Rules (Trial) (Issuance by NEA's Qualification Centre, One Channel for Transfers, Price Above Zero, No Re-Trading After Green-Power Trades, 2026 Year-Matching When Cancelling for Consumption Declarations), the Trading Methods and One-Trade Rule, the Monthly Data (June 2026: 82.73 Million Traded; 1.29 / 4.05 / 5.96 Yuan by Production Year) and the China Green Certificate Price Index (181.0 in June 2026, 222.8 in July)Updated 2026-10-24
- How to Read China's Green Power Trading: How the Pilot Started, How a Green-Power Contract Is Priced and Settled, What the 2025 Rules Require, How Big the Market Is, and How Direct Connection DiffersUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Power Capacity Compensation Mechanism: From the 2023 Coal Capacity Price to the 2026 Notice on Gas, Pumped Storage, Grid-Side Storage and Reliable-Capacity CompensationUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Power Market Information Disclosure: the 2024 Basic Rules (Public, Open and Specific Information; What Generators, Retailers, Independent Storage and Market Operators Must Publish; 2-Year Retention, 5-Year Sealing of Intervention Logs), NEA's 130-Item Table, and the 2025 Southern Regional, Zhejiang and Jiangxi Implementation TextsUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Read China's Power Market Risk Management: The Six Spot-Market Risk Types, Who May Intervene and When, Price Limits and Secondary Limits, Retailer Performance Guarantees, Collusion Rules, and the Provincial Risk Plans Being Approved in 2025–2026Updated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Renewable Consumption Targets: National Non-Fossil Goals, Provincial Consumption Weights, Obligated Entities and the 2026 Minimum-Share RulesUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Virtual Power Plant Policy: What 357号 Defines, the 20 GW and 50 GW Targets, How a VPP Connects and Registers, Which Markets It May Enter, and Who Sets the PricesUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Wind Power Curtailment Compensation Rules: Guaranteed Purchase under the Renewable Energy Law, NDRC Order No. 15 (2024), the 2016 Compensation Mechanics, How Curtailed Energy Is Measured, and the 'In Principle Not Below 90%' Relaxed Target for Good-Resource RegionsUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Read Forecast Risk in China's Power Market Trading: Where Load and New-Energy Forecasts Enter Spot Clearing, Deviation Settlement and Assessment, the 2011 Wind-Forecast Accuracy Rules (25% Day-Ahead, 15% Real-Time, 20% RMSE), Shandong's Draft 96-Point Curves, and What Must Be Disclosed Before BiddingUpdated 2026-10-24
// CNWATTHUB STORAGE GUIDE
- How to Assess a BESS Project Financial Model in China: the Revenue Lines the Rules Allow (Energy Arbitrage Under Spot or Agency Prices, Ancillary Services, the 2026 Grid-Side Independent Storage Capacity Price Scaled by Peaking Capability, Provincial Discharge Compensation), the Cost Lines (Charging Treated as a User, Grid-Loss and System-Operation Charges, 10-Year Minimum Tax Depreciation and the ≤5 Million Yuan Expensing Rule), and the Utilisation Evidence (611 → 911 → 1,195 Equivalent Hours, 2023–2025)Updated 2026-10-24
- How to Assess Battery Storage Degradation and Augmentation Cost: What Drives Capacity Fade, How Laboratory Models Schedule Augmentation, and What a Warranty Will Be Judged OnUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Assess BESS Augmentation Scheduling: the Trigger (PNNL: Augment When Available Energy Falls to the Discharge Energy of the Operating DOD — 80% DOD Before the First Top-Up, 60% After It and at Each Later Return to 60% of Rated; SAM: Replace at a Capacity Threshold or on a Fixed-Year Schedule), the Sizing Rule (Add Enough That the Old 80%-DOD Discharge Is Met at 60% DOD of the Augmented System; Lazard: Build to 110% of Nameplate in Year 1 and Top Up to Nameplate as Needed at Year-1 Module Cost), the Life Logic (Project Life 20–25 Years Set by the Number of Augmentations; NREL's 15-Year, One-Cycle-a-Day Fixed O&M of 4% That 'Might Not Be Sufficient' at Higher Cycling), the Warranty Interface (Throughput-or-Years Limits; PNNL's Modelled Warranty Cost Restarting Four Years After Each Block Replacement) and the Chinese Hooks (Design-Life Assessment and Retirement Duty; Grid-Interface Tests and Filed Maintenance Plans; Inner Mongolia's In-Principle Limit of 1.5 Full Charges a Day and 0.28 Yuan/kWh Discharge Compensation; a Capacity Price Localities May Grant, Scaled by Discharge Duration)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Assess BESS Availability Guarantees: the Definition Problem, Read Across From NREL's PV Framework (Time-Based Versus Energy Availability; Events Outside Management Control to Be Distinguished and Not Penalised; Block Versus Whole-System; Planned, Unplanned and Force-Majeure Categories in the IEC 63019 Specification Then Being Drafted), the Reference Documents (GB/T 36549-2018 Operation Indices for Electrochemical Storage Stations; IEC 62933-2-1 Unit Parameters and Tests), the Procurement Baseline (Sandia's Template: Five-Year Warranty, Life Expectancy for the Stated Discharge Profile, an 'Uptime Guarantee' Line Item), Who Carries the Risk in One Supplier's Own Disclosure (Tesla 10-K: Shortfall Risk, in Some Cases Including Third-Party Components), the Warranty Conditions to Read Beside It (Internet Access to Performance Data or No Claim; Ten Years or a Throughput, Whichever First) and the Grid Operator's Own Performance Assessment (Southern Region 2025: ±5% Energy Deviation Against a 96-Point Plan, 100% Dispatch-Telephone Availability Target, Exemptions Available for Grid Causes)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Assess BESS Degradation Modeling: What a Semi-Empirical Model Contains (Arrhenius Calendar Term, Square-Root and Linear Cycle Terms, SOC Dependence, Separate Mechanisms), How Well It Fits (1.4% RMS Capacity Error Across 0–55 °C; Below 1% End-of-Test Error on an LFP Storage Profile), What the Test Data Behind It Can and Cannot Say (BLAST-Lite's Models: 1–3 Years of Accelerated Aging Extrapolated to 10+; Sandia: LFP Cells Cycled 2,500–9,000 EFC, Most Not Yet at 80% Capacity When the Study Ended, Versus 200–2,500 EFC for NMC), Pack Versus Cell (BLAST-Lite's 20–30% Rule of Thumb; Cluster Energy Loss From Cell Inconsistency of up to 5–15% in Mid-to-Late Operation, per a 2026 Consultation Draft's Explanatory Note), and the Test and Standard Hooks (Reference Performance Test, IEC 62933-2-1, GB/T 36276 / 34131 / 36558 / 36549)Updated 2026-10-24
- How to Assess BESS Fire Suppression Systems in China: GB/T 42288-2022 §5.6 (Module-Level Protection Unit, Remote and Manual Start, Insulating and Cooling Agent, Continuous Suppression of Re-Ignition), NEA's 25 Key Requirements (Gas Detection Trips and Ventilation, Module-Level Full-Scale Fire Tests), the Design Standard Changeover (GB 51048-2014 Withdrawn 1 April 2026, GB/T 51048-2025), GB/T 46261-2025 Fire Monitoring From 1 September 2026, and UL 9540A / NFPA 855 / IEC 62933-5-2Updated 2026-10-24
- How to Assess BESS Insurance and Warranty: the Warranty Anatomy (Product Term — BYD 10 Years, GoodWe 5 Years; Performance Term — 60% or 70% of Usable Energy at Ten Years or a Minimum Throughput, Whichever Comes First; GoodWe's Throughput Set per kWh at 3.5 MWh at ≤0.5C and 2.9 MWh Above 0.5C up to 1.1C, Cells Only; Fire Suppression One Year, Air-Conditioning Two), the Conditions That Decide a Claim (Defined Capacity Test at 25–28 °C; Internet Access to Performance Data or No Claim; One Cycle a Day; −20 to 55 °C; Report Within a Month — Though GoodWe's Exceptions List Says Two Weeks), the Procurement Baseline (Sandia's Template: Five-Year Warranty on All Components, Life Expectancy for the Given Discharge Profile, Extended-Warranty and Uptime-Guarantee Line Items), the Guarantee Layer Above the Warranty (Tesla 10-K: Performance Guarantees Under Which It Bears Shortfall Risk Including Third-Party Components) and the Chinese Insurance Layer (NFRA 2024: Explore Storage Insurance Across R&D, Manufacturing and O&M; IAChina's December 2024 Storage-Station Risk Assessment Guidelines; PICC's 15-Year Quality-and-Performance Guarantee Policy, Property All-Risks, Machinery Breakdown and Price-Spread Revenue Cover, by Its Own Account)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Assess BESS Levelised Cost of Storage: The PNNL Formula, What Lazard's 2025 Ranges Assume, NREL's Cost Projections, and the Chinese Utilisation Statistics, Targets and Price Mechanisms to Read Alongside ThemUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Assess BESS Performance Guarantees: What Is Guaranteed (Capacity Threshold, Round-Trip Efficiency, Energy Performance), How It Is Measured (PNNL's Reference Performance Test at Beginning of Life and at Intervals in Time, Cycles or Throughput; Duty-Cycle RTE; Warranty Capacity Tests Under Each Vendor's Own Conditions — GoodWe at 25 °C and 0.2C Taking the Third Cycle, Sungrow at 25–28 °C With Model-Specific Currents), What Happens When It Is Missed (Fluence: Performance Liquidated Damages at Completion or Through the Service Term; Tesla: Guarantees It 'May' Give and Damages It 'May' Pay; Augmentation as Threshold-Maintenance or a Fixed Number of Top-Ups), Where the Clocks and Carve-Outs Are (Ten Years or a Throughput Whichever First; One Cycle a Day; Cells Only; 60% and 70% End Points; AC–AC Versus DC–DC Efficiency) and Who Stands Behind It (Parent Guarantees Paid for at Bank-Guarantee Cost Plus a Markup; a 15-Year Quality-and-Efficacy Insurance Policy Reported in the Press)Updated 2026-10-26
- How to Assess BESS Second Life and Recycling: China's 2026 Waste Traction Battery Regulation (Order No. 73, in Force 1 April 2026, Repealing the 2018 and 2021 Measures), Producer Recovery Duties, Coding and Traceability, the 2024 Industry Norms (Li Recovery ≥90%, Electrode Powder ≥98%, No Cascade Batteries in E-Bikes), NEA's Rules for Second-Life Storage Projects, and IEC 63330-1:2024 / UL 1974 for RepurposingUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Check a Battery Storage EPC Contract: Acceptance Tests and Their Definitions, Warranty Defaults, Grid-Connection and Dispatch Obligations, Safety Documents and Payment Security Under Chinese LawUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Check a Battery Storage Warranty: Degradation, Throughput and Test ConditionsUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Check a BESS Thermal Management Design: What China's 2023 NEA Requirements Demand (BMS Over-Temperature and Temperature-Difference Protection, H2/CO Detection and One-Air-Change-per-Minute Ventilation in LFP Rooms, Module-Level Fire Tests for New or Expanded Medium and Large Li-ion Stations — for Generation- and Grid-Side Stations), the Standards Stack (GB/T 51048-2025, GB 44240-2024, GB/T 36276-2023) and UL 9540A / NFPA 855 / IEC 62933-5-2Updated 2026-10-24
- How to Check an Energy Storage Inverter's Grid-Forming Capability: China's New GB/T 48211-2026 and GB/T 47968-2026, the Draft's Numeric Requirements (±60° Phase Jump, 2–20 s Inertia, SCR 1.1–10, 300% Overcurrent), and How NERC, AEMO, National Grid ESO and IEEE 2800 Frame ItUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Check Battery Storage Fire-Protection Requirements: China's 2023 Anti-Accident Rules, Fire Acceptance, NFPA 855 and UL 9540AUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Check Energy Storage System Commissioning and Acceptance Tests: The Test Gates in China's Rules, the Standards That Name Them, and the Baseline Performance Tests to Ask ForUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read Battery Storage Safety Certificates: UL 9540 vs UL 9540A, IEC 62619 vs IEC 63056, NFPA 855 and China's GB RulesUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Energy Storage Capacity Market: the First National Storage Capacity Price (发改价格〔2026〕114号 — Grid-Side Independent Storage Not Taking Part in 'Allocated' Storage; Local Coal Capacity Price × Discharge Hours ÷ Longest Net-Load Peak, Ratio Capped at 1; List-Managed), the Coal Benchmark It Scales From (330 Yuan/kW·Year Fixed Cost, ≥50% Recovered From 2026 = 165 Yuan/kW·Year), the Reliable-Capacity Compensation to Be Built in Due Course After Spot Runs Continuously, and Three Provincial Instruments — Xinjiang (Peak Duration Provisionally 6 Hours; Effective 1 June 2026), Gansu (Trial Compensation Issued Before 114号: 330 Yuan/kW·Year × Declared Capacity × Supply–Demand Coefficient From 1 January 2026, 50%/100% Monthly Cuts for Non-Delivery, Trial to End-2027) and Inner Mongolia (0.35 Yuan/kWh on Discharged Energy for Projects Commissioned by 2025, per Xinhua)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Read China's Energy Storage Investment Models: Independent vs Co-located Storage (2022 Notice), the 2026 Grid-Side Capacity Price (Based on the Coal Capacity Price, Converted by a Discharge-Duration Ratio Not Exceeding 1) and Reliable-Capacity Compensation, Charging Treated as a User with T&D Refunded on Discharge, Ancillary-Service Sharing, Inner Mongolia's 0.35 yuan/kWh Discharge Compensation and the 2025 Market Data (136 GW, 51.2% Independent, a Preliminary 1,195 Utilisation Hours)Updated 2026-10-24
- How to Read China's Energy Storage Permitting: Filing, Not Approval (the 2017 State Council Regulation Reserves 核准 for Catalogued Projects; a 备案 Is Complete When the Online Platform Receives the Enterprise's Basics, Project Name, Site, Scale, Content, Total Investment and Industrial-Policy Statement), What the Storage-Specific Rules Add (the 2021 Interim Rules' Filing Content Including Technology Route, Scenario, Standards, Environment and Safety, Copied to the NEA Office; Qualified Designers and Certified Equipment; Quality, Environmental and Fire Procedures Before Commissioning), the Safety Hook Written into the Filing (the 2025 Five-Department Notice and the 2025–2027 Action Plan: the Filing Document Names the Unit's Primary Safety Responsibility), the Licence Question (Business Licences Are Required Except in NEA-Prescribed Cases; the 2025 Opinion Brings New-Type Storage in Principle into the Exemption), the Grid Step (Non-Discriminatory Access for Filed Projects; Performance and Grid-Interface Tests; the Model Dispatch Agreement Filed with the NEA Office; Southern Region: Municipal-Dispatched Electrochemical Storage Under the Rules from 5 MW/1 h) and a Provincial Layer (Jilin's Annual Project Library — User-Side and Generation-Side Storage for Now Outside It — with Grid Consultation and Feasibility Study Before Entry)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Read China's Energy Storage Safety Regulations: Filing With Named Responsibility Under the 2025 Five-Department Notice, the 2022 Owner Duties and 'No Sick Connection' Rule, Risk Monitoring of Generation- and Grid-Side Stations From 2025, the 2026 Major-Hazard Criteria and Penalties, the Revised Accident Regulation, and the GB 44240 and GB/T StandardsUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Energy Storage Safety Standards: the Map (the 2023 SAC–NEA Standard System Guide's Eight Areas, With Safety and Emergency as One), the Only Mandatory Standard Among Those Cited Here (GB 44240-2024 for Storage Lithium Cells and Batteries, in Force Since 1 August 2025; Its Thermal-Runaway Test Described by 何鹏林 of CESI, Quoted in a 2025 Press Report, as 'No Fire, No Explosion' After Heating), the Station-Level Recommended Standards (GB/T 42288-2022 Safety Code and Its Clause 5.6 Fire Requirements; GB/T 51048-2025 Design Standard From 1 April 2026 Replacing GB 51048-2014; GB/T 46261-2025 Fire Monitoring From 1 September 2026; GB/T 42314 and 42312 on Hazard Identification and Emergency Plans; GB/T 36276-2023 Batteries), How Many There Are (More Than 50 National and 50 Industry Standards Issued, 30-Plus in Drafting, per NEA's June 2025 Reply) and How UL 9540A Sits Beside ThemUpdated 2026-10-25
- How to Read China's Energy-Storage Safety Inspection Regime: the Four Checkpoints the National Notices Define (Feasibility-Stage Safety Analysis on File; Safety-Facility Check After Completion or Trial Operation; Qualified-Institution Grid-Connection Testing Before Acceptance, With 'No Connecting While Sick'; a Safety Post-Evaluation After a Period of Operation), the Continuous Layer (Power Enterprises' Monitoring of Batteries, BMS, EMS, PCS, Fire Systems and Cybersecurity at Generation- and Grid-Side Stations From 2025; Annual Full Fire-Facility Tests; Battery State-of-Health Checks; Reporting to the National Monitoring Platform), the Standards That Supply the Checklist (GB/T 42288-2022 Safety Code, GB/T 43868-2024 Start-Up and Acceptance, GB/T 42314/42312-2023 Hazard Identification and Emergency Plans, GB/T 46261-2025 Fire Monitoring, GB/T 51048-2025 Design) and What NEA Said in June 2026 About a Periodic Inspection Mechanism (Qualified Third-Party Evaluators 'Suitable' Rather Than Dispatch-Led, a Safety-Evaluation Guideline Being Drafted With Insulation, Capacity Retention and Efficiency Among Its Indicators, a 'Testing–Rating–Revenue' Link to Capacity Payments and Insurance Under Study)Updated 2026-10-26
- How to Read China's Pumped Storage Pricing: The Two-Part Tariff of Document 633, the 48 Approved Capacity Prices of 2023, How Projects Are Planned and Approved, and What the 2026 Capacity-Price Notice ChangesUpdated 2026-10-23
- kWh vs kVA in Energy Storage: Reading a BESS Datasheet CorrectlyUpdated 2026-10-23
- LFP vs NMC for Utility-Scale Battery Storage: What the Evidence SaysUpdated 2026-10-23
// CNWATTHUB SOLAR GUIDE
- How to Assess PV Inverter Reliability and Failure Rates: What the Statistics Count, Lifetimes and Warranties, Central vs String Service Models, Design Qualification and China's Conformity EvidenceUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Assess PV Module Supply-Chain Traceability Under the UFLPA: What the Law Presumes, What an Importer Must Prove, What CBP Asks For on Polysilicon, Who Is on the Entity List, and What the Enforcement Numbers SayUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Assess PV Trackers vs Fixed Tilt: What the US Plant Data Show on Capacity Factor and Cost, Where Fixed Tilt Is Still Chosen, the IEC 62817 and GB/T 29320 Tracker Standards, and How Models Treat BacktrackingUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Assess Solar Module Anti-PID Performance: What the Tests Are (IEC TS 62804-1:2025 — PID-Shunting in the Dark With a Chamber Method Whose Minimum Stress Is 60 °C/85% RH/96 h at Rated System Voltage and 65 °C or 85 °C Recommended for Harder Testing; PID-Polarization Under UV at 60 °C for 20 h; a UV Recovery Test; IEC 61215-2:2021 MQT 21; IEC TS 62804-1-1 for Delamination), What the Chamber Result Can Promise (NREL: Below 5% Loss at 60 °C/85% RH/96 h Matched No Field PID in 4–6 Florida Years; the Stress Levels Are Not Correlated With Natural Conditions), Which Mode Matters for Today's Cells (IEA PVPS 2025: PID-Shunting Not Seen in Current Cell Types; Polarization Is the Emerging Mode; a TOPCon Case Fell From 28% Loss Without UV to Below 3% With UV) and China's Adoption Status (GB/Z 117.101-2026 Issued; the Part 1 Adoption Is a Consultation Draft)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Assess Solar Module Bifacial Gain: Bifaciality Factor vs Bifacial Gain, Albedo Ranges, Measured Tracker Gains of About 4–12% at Natural Albedo (2–10% Typical), the IEC TS 60904-1-2 (BNPI 1,000/135 W/m²) Method and PVsyst DefaultsUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Assess Solar Module Degradation and Performance Ratio in the Field: IEC 61724-1/-2/-3 (Monitoring, Short-Term Capacity Test, Energy Test), Weather-Corrected PR, Year-on-Year Degradation Rates (RdTools; NREL's 0.5%/Year Median), IEC 60891 I-V Corrections, the Chinese Standards GB/T 39857-2021 and NB/T 32034-2016, and IEA PVPS Findings on Non-Linear and Climate-Specific DegradationUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Assess Solar Module Hail Risk: What Qualification Proves (IEC 61215-2 MQT 17 Uses Ice Balls of a Minimum 25 mm Diameter and Is Described as 'Sufficient' for Generic Qualification Where Severe Hail Is Unlikely, per the IEC TS 63397 Introduction; Test Results Are Not a Lifetime Prediction), What the Severe-Hail Tiers Add (IEC TS 63397:2022 HMQT 17 and Hail Maps; FM 4478 Classes 2–4 and VSH, the Latter at 72–79 J per Impact; Kiwa PVEL's 35–55 mm HSS, Where Most 2.0/2.0 mm Glass Modules Break at 45 mm and 43% at 40 mm), What Mitigation the Evidence Supports (Thicker Front Glass Roughly Twice as Resistant per VDE Americas; Stow Angle Scaling with cos²θ, a 75° Stow Modelled to Cut Farm Damage up to 80%), the Chinese Baseline (GB/T 9535.1-2025 Effective 1 May 2026; 32 Convective Processes and 55 mm Hail in 2024 per the CMA; Hail Defined as >5 mm in a PICC Clause) and the Loss Profile Relayed from Insurers (6% of Claims, >72% of Losses)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Assess Solar Module I-V Curves and Defect Detection: the Measurement Standards (IEC 60904-3 Reference Spectrum; IEC 60891 Temperature and Irradiance Corrections, Procedure 4 for c-Si With Unknown Coefficients; IEC 61215-2 Qualification Sequence With MQT 20–22 Added in 2021), the Imaging Standards (IEC TS 60904-13 Electroluminescence Under Forward Bias; IEC TS 62446-3 Outdoor Infrared With Its Thermal-Abnormality Matrix; IEC 62446-1 Commissioning Tests), What the Field Evidence Says (Good IR Images Recommended Above 600 W/m² in Stable Conditions; IR First to Localise, Then EL in the Lab or in Near-Dark On Site; Standard Field I-V Tracers Accurate to About 5% and Blind to Hot Spots Not Yet Costing Power) and One Arrival-Inspection Dataset (78% and 70% Major-Crack Rates in Two 50-Module Samples of a Multi-Wire Half-Cell PERC Type, Where a Dendritic Crack Costs ~0.2% of Module Power per Half-Cell)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Assess Solar Module LID and LeTID: Two Mechanisms on Two Clocks (Boron–Oxygen LID Typically Within Hours, Possibly Several Percent, Sometimes a Slow Recovery; Hydrogen-Linked LeTID Over the First Years, Field Losses Sometimes Over 10%, Then Weather-Dependent Regeneration), What the Test Can and Cannot Tell You (IEC TS 63342:2022 Current-Injection Detection Reveals Sensitivity but Gives No Exact Measure of Field Degradation; IEC 61215 Results Not a Lifetime Prediction), Why the Industry Says the Problem Is Mostly Solved (Gallium Doping, Thinner Wafers, Firing Profiles; TOPCon Modules Through a LeTID Test the Report Gives as 322 h and as 2 × 162 h, With Minor Loss) and Where the Residual Risk Sits (a Commercial Lab Reporting a Lower Percentage of LID+LETID Top Performer BOMs in 2026; First-Year Warranty Steps of 1.0%, 2.0% and 2.5% Stated Without Naming the Mechanism)Updated 2026-10-26
- How to Assess Solar Module Recycling and Circularity in China: the 2023 Responsibility Rule (Centralised Wind and PV Generators Bear Retired-Equipment Disposal; No Unauthorised, Unlawful Disposal by Landfill or Dumping), the 2026 Six-Department Opinion (250,000 t Cumulative Utilisation by 2027, Scrapping-Evaluation Standard, Low-Temperature Pyrolysis Below 200 °C, Weak-Acid Silver Leaching), GB/T 45922-2025 and GB/T 39753-2021, MEE's Pollution-Control Specification in Drafting, and the IRENA/IEA-PVPS Volume and Recovery EvidenceUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Assess Solar Module Transport and Logistics: Why Transport Cracks Are Invisible Without EL or Lock-in Thermography (IEA PVPS), the IEC 62759-1:2022 Package-Unit Transport Test and Its 2026 Chinese Adoption GB/T 46989.1-2025, One Manufacturer's Handling Limits (Two-Layer Stacking, Forklift ≤5 km/h, RH <85%, −40°C to 50°C) and What ICC Explains About FCA, CIF/CIP Insurance Levels and DPUUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Assess Solar Module Warranty and Insurance: What Two Chinese Manufacturers' Warranties Actually Promise (Trina 10/12/15-Year Product and 25/30-Year Power; Jinko 12/15/25-Year Product and 30-Year Power), the Remedies and Exclusions, MIIT's Degradation Ceilings (2024 Norms and 2026 Draft), Two Chinese Insurers' Clauses (Manufacturer-Side Warranty Liability and Owner-Side Generation Loss), and the Product Quality LawUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Check a Solar Inverter's Grid-Code Compliance: Which Standard, Which Test Report, Which CertificateUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Check Solar Inverter Certification for Europe: CE Marking Under the LVD and EMC Directive, IEC 62109 Safety, the RfG Type A–D Classes and Equipment Certificates, EN 50549-1, and the German, Italian and British Connection RulesUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Compare Solar Module Efficiency: STC, Area, Bifacial Gain and Lab RecordsUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Evaluate a Solar Module Warranty: Product Term, Power Curve, Start Date, Exclusions and RemedyUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read a Solar Module's Bill of Materials and Cost Structure: What Is in the Module, Which Inputs Carry the Cost, Which Stage Sets the Price, and What China's Manufacturing Norms Assess for Their Enterprise ListUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Solar Wafer and Cell Capacity Cycle: MIIT Output and Price Data, the 2024 Industry Norms and the 2026 Draft, Polysilicon Energy Limits, Export-Rebate Cuts and the 2026 'Anti-Involution' MeasuresUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Read Solar Cell Technology Routes — PERC, TOPCon, HJT and Back Contact: What Each Name Means, Which Datasheet Numbers Change, Which Degradation Tests Apply, and What China's Norms RequireUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read Solar Module Degradation and Plant Performance Ratio: Two Different Numbers, How Each Is Measured, and What a Contract Should Pin DownUpdated 2026-10-23
- What "Tier 1 Solar Module Maker" Means — and What It Does NotUpdated 2026-10-23
// CNWATTHUB PROCUREMENT GUIDE
- How to Assess a Wind Turbine Supplier's Capability: Design Class, Type and Blade Tests, Grid-Code Evidence, Quality System and End-of-Life — What the Standards and Chinese Rules Let You Ask ForUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Assess an EPC Project Performance Bond in China: the 10% Cap, the Four Lawful Deposits, Bank Guarantees Instead of Cash, the 3% Quality Retention and Its Defect Period (Generally 1 Year, at Most 2), the Housing/Municipal Rule That a Tenderer Requiring the Winner's Performance Guarantee Gives a Payment Guarantee, Clause 4.2 of the Housing/Municipal Model EPC Contract, and General vs Joint-and-Several SuretyshipUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Assess the Offshore Wind Supply Chain: China's 2025 Installations, MNR's Deep-Water Siting and Sea-Use Rules, Where the Cost Sits by Component, the Design Standards for Fixed and Floating Turbines, and an Export-Market Price SignalUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Check Wind Turbine Certification: From IEC 61400-22 to IECRE and GB/T 35792, the 2014 NEA Type-Certification Requirement, What a Chinese Certification Body's Rule Covers (Design Evaluation, Type Tests, 2.5-Year Series-Production Surveillance, Generally Five-Year Certificates), and the Standards Behind the ReportsUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Check Wind Turbine Warranty and O&M Terms: What China's Reliability Statistics Show, Which Commitments Chinese Supply Contracts Carry, How One Tender Words Them, Which Standards Define Availability and Acceptance, and What a US Cost Benchmark AssumesUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Verify a Chinese EPC Contractor's Track Record: Qualifications, Licences and Public RecordsUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Verify a Chinese Solar Supplier: Entity, Factory, Certificates and ClaimsUpdated 2026-10-23
// CNWATTHUB ANALYSIS GUIDE
- How to Read a Chinese Listed Company's Annual ReportUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's 2030 Carbon Peak Action Plan as an Energy Company: Targets, the Energy Action, Instruments That Reach a Project, Progress to 2025 and the 2035 TargetsUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Green Bond and Transition Finance Rules: the 2025 Green Finance Catalogue, the 2024 Transition Industry Catalogue, the Green Bond Principles, the Shanghai Exchange's Green, Carbon-Neutral and Transition Bond Rules, and the Transition Finance StandardsUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Read China's Green Hydrogen Certification: The 2020 Group Standard's 14.51 and 4.9 kgCO2e/kgH2 Thresholds, the DL/T 3015—2025 Industry Standard, the First Evaluation Statement, What the Hydrogen Plan and the Industrial Plan Require, and Where Green Certificates FitUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Hydrogen Policy Instruments: Statutory Basis, the 2021–2035 Plan, Standards and Safety, Pilot Programmes and Their Thresholds, and the Price, Market and Finance ChannelsUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Hydrogen Storage and Transport Rules: Hydrogen as Energy Under the 2025 Energy Law and as Hazardous Chemical No. 1648 Under Order No. 591, the 2022 Plan's Storage-and-Transport Line, NEA's 2025 Pilot Thresholds (≥100 km Pipelines, ≥5 t/day Liquefaction, ≥600 kg per Truck, ≥20,000 Nm³ Storage), NEA's August 2025 View on Long-Distance Pipelines, and the GB Standards for Hydrogen StationsUpdated 2026-10-24
// CNWATTHUB GRID GUIDE
- How to Assess Curtailment Risk for a Chinese Wind or Solar Project: Utilisation Rates, Who Bears Which Cause, and Where the Data LivesUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Assess Transformer Procurement Lead Times: What Drives the Wait, What the Public Data Says, and How to Read a Quoted Delivery DateUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Check a Chinese Wind Farm's Grid Connection and Curtailment: The Connection File, Grid-Code Capabilities, How Curtailed Energy Is Measured and Reported, What Counts Against the Utilisation Rate, and Where Assessment Fees AriseUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read a Chinese Grid-Connection Approval for a Solar or Storage ProjectUpdated 2026-10-23
- How to Read China's Ultra-High-Voltage Transmission Projects: What the Channels Are For, How Much Renewable Power They Carry, How Their Tariffs Are Built, and What the 2025–2026 Rules ChangeUpdated 2026-10-23
// CNWATTHUB WIND GUIDE
- How to Check a Wind Turbine Foundation Design: the Chinese Standards Stack (NB/T 10311-2019 Onshore, NB/T 10105-2025 Offshore Replacing the 2018 Edition from 18 June 2026, GB 50021 Geotechnical Investigation), IEC 61400-6:2020 and Its 2025 Amendment, IEC 61400-1 and the Nine Items DNV-ST-0126 Gives Requirements ForUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Check Wind Farm Micrositing: the Chinese Standards (NB/T 10103-2025 Replacing the 2018 Edition from 18 June 2026, NB/T 31147-2018 Resource Measurement, GB/T 18710-2002), IEC 61400-15-1:2025 Site Suitability, IEC 61400-1 Turbine Classes, and the 2026 Forest/Grassland and Ecological Red-Line Rules That Fix Where Turbines May Not GoUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Check Wind Farm SCADA and Communication in China: the IEC 61400-25 Stack (Information Models, Exchange Services, Mappings to MMS, IEC 60870-5-104, DNP3, OPC/XML-DA and Web Services) and GB/T 30966.1-2022 (Identical Adoption of Part 1 Only), NDRC Order No. 27 (2024) in Force Since 1 January 2025 and Repealing the 2014 Order No. 14 (Zones I–IV, One-Way Isolation Devices, Vertical Encryption, No Wireless Products in the Production Zone, New-Energy and Centralised Monitoring Expressly Covered), the 2022 Cybersecurity Measures, and NEA's 2023 Bans on Direct Internet Remote Control and Vendor Remote O&MUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Check Wind Farm Wake Effects: How Large They Are (Wake Is One of the Largest Energy Losses; a 15–40% Figure the Review's Discussion Calls Wake AEP Loss While Its Fig. 9 Is Labelled an Uncertainty Plot; Estimated Wake Loss Exceeds All Other Predicted Losses Combined; a Predicted Energy-Uncertainty Range From Wake of About 6%), Why They Are Under-Estimated (Ørsted 2019: Blockage and Wake Under-Forecast Across Its Portfolio, Likely Industry-Wide; External Wake 'a Bigger Known Unknown'), How Neighbours Change the Answer (Danish Waters: 9–11% Wake Loss as Built in 2021, 19–21% in the 2030 Scenario), What a Chinese Micrositing Case Shows (28-Turbine Offshore Layout: 10.58% Average and 15.58% Maximum Single-Turbine Wake Loss Against the NB/T 10103-2018 Guidance of Below 8% and Within 15%, as Quoted in the Project Report) and Which Models and Controls Exist (the Gauss-Curl Hybrid Model's Documented Deep-Array and Long-Distance Discrepancies and the Cumulative-Curl Model Offered to Fix Them; Wake Steering's Measured 14% Downstream and 4% Pair Gain Over a 10° Sector)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Check Wind Turbine Blade Inspection and Repair in China: the Standards Map (IEC 61400-5:2020+AMD1:2025, IEC 61400-23 / GB/T 25384-2018, GB/T 25383-2025, NB/T 10561-2021), a Draft Group Standard's Five Damage Grades and Repair Acceptance Numbers (Barcol ≥50, Tg ≥65/70 °C, Lightning Path <240 mΩ), and NEA's Work-at-Height, Ice and Fire RequirementsUpdated 2026-10-24
- How to Check Wind Turbine Gearbox Condition Monitoring: the Design Frame (IEC 61400-4:2012 for Gearboxes Above 500 kW, Rolling-Element Bearings, Lubrication and Prototype Testing — Withdrawn 15 April 2025 in Favour of IEC 61400-4:2025), the Vibration Standards (ISO 10816-21:2015 for Geared Turbines Above 200 kW — Now Withdrawn in Favour of ISO 20816-21:2025; China's NB/T 31004-2011, Current Since November 2011), Why the Gearbox Is the Component to Monitor (Longest Downtime per Failure in ~15,400 Turbine-Years; 0.154 Major Replacements per Turbine-Year Offshore, 95% of Major Replacements With the Generator; Not Always Meeting 20-Year Design Life), What Fails (36 of 37 Incidents in One Small Database Involved Bearings — Hardening Cracks, Abrasion, Scuffing) and How Good Vibration Diagnosis Was in One Blind Test (NREL's Round Robin: Best of Sixteen Partners Found Five of Seven Damages; Most Had More Misses Than False Alarms; One Partner Found Six of Seven in Hindsight)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Check Wind Turbine Yaw and Pitch Systems: the Design Frame (IEC 61400-1:2019 Covers Control and Protection Functions; GB/T 18451.1-2022 Adopts It Identically), the Chinese Product Standards (GB/T 32077-2025 Pitch Systems, Effective 1 November 2025, Replacing the 2015 Edition; GB/T 47560-2026 Yaw Systems, Effective 1 August 2026) and O&M References (GB/T 25385-2019; DL/T 666 and 797-2012; NB/T 31004-2011), the Failure Evidence (Carroll et al.: Pitch/Hydraulic Is the Largest Share of Offshore Failures at ~13%, 0.824 Minor Repairs per Turbine-Year, with Oil and Valve Issues ~30% of Them; Yaw at 0.162 Minor Repairs), and the Yaw-Alignment Evidence (NREL: Vane Errors from Rotor Wake, Nacelle Flow and Calibration; a 7.5° Offset Correction Estimated to Add 2.4% AEP; Deliberate Offsets for Wake Steering Measured at +4% for a Pair)Updated 2026-10-25
- How to Check Wind-Farm Grid-Code Compliance in China: the Three Layers (the Technical Standards GB/T 19963.1-2021 Onshore and 19963.2-2024 Offshore, the Turbine Test Standards IEC 61400-21-1:2019 and GB/T 36995-2018, and the Regional 'Two Rules' That Assess Day to Day), What Must Be Proven and When (Southern Region 2025: Transient Models and a Validation Report Three Months Before Connection; Power Quality, AGC, AVC, Primary Frequency and Inertia, Model Evaluation, Ride-Through Simulation and SVG Ride-Through Verification Within Six Months, by a Qualified Test Unit; Grid-Connection Testing Again Above 40 MW of Added Capacity), the Numbers the Dispatcher Watches (AGC Response Under 2 Minutes, 35%/min Ramp, 3% Accuracy, 99.9% and 99% Thresholds; Dynamic Reactive Availability 95%, AVC 98%; Primary Frequency Assessed on Commissioning Only at This Stage, Capped at 1.5 h, While Article 33 Still Requires Performance to Standard) and How the International Frameworks Compare (IEC 61400-27-1 Generic Models, IEEE 2800 IBR Requirements)Updated 2026-10-26
All guides are English-only. The Chinese edition of this site covers the same sectors in Chinese at cnwatthub.com.