Jiangsu province has reached a major milestone in its renewable energy transition, with its cumulative installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity exceeding 100 gigawatts. As of the end of July 2026, the province's solar power capacity stood at 100.08 gigawatts, accounting for over 38% of its total installed power capacity and making it the province's largest source of electricity.

Despite facing land resource constraints, Jiangsu has carved out a distinctive solar development path characterized by a focus on distributed generation, supplemented by utility-scale projects and featuring unique offshore solar initiatives.

Distributed PV Leads the Way Through Innovative Models

Nearly 70% of Jiangsu's solar capacity comes from distributed photovoltaic systems. A representative from the distribution network department at State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Co noted that by leveraging rooftop resources from rural residences, industrial park facilities, and public buildings, the province has promoted village-wide and park-wide collective development, creating a unique distributed PV landscape.

In rural areas, the traditional approach of individual household installations with scattered grid connections often led to inconsistent equipment standards, construction quality, and maintenance capabilities, alongside repeated upgrades to distribution facilities that drove up overall costs. The new village-wide development model treats a natural village as a unit, coordinating rooftop resources with unified surveying, design, construction, and maintenance. Tailored grid connection plans are developed for each village, allowing solar power to be aggregated and connected in an orderly manner—much like channeling scattered streams into a river before feeding it into the grid.

For example, in Shuangjing Village, Xuzhou City, 56 households have completed solar installations, representing 81% of the developable households, with a total capacity of 2,709 kilowatts. Through the AC aggregation grid connection approach, the village's supporting grid investment has decreased by 28.24% compared to the fragmented development model.

For industrial parks, Jiangsu has pioneered an efficient model of centralized distributed PV development, full-grid delivery, and direct supply to parks, facilitated by government coordination and grid infrastructure support. In Jianhu County, Yancheng City, the Jiangsu Yanhai Electroplating Center had clear green energy needs but lacked sufficient rooftop space for its own solar development. State Grid Yancheng Power Supply Company collaborated with relevant parties to survey rooftop resources in the Jiangsu Jianhu Economic Development Zone and surrounding areas, breaking down park boundaries to connect 9.12 megawatts of distributed PV capacity and provide traceable green power to the enterprise. This model offers a new solution for high-energy-consuming industries to reduce carbon emissions and enhance the green competitiveness of their exports.

In July, the Jiangsu Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued the Jiangsu Distributed PV Development Implementation Plan (2026-2030), setting targets of 120 gigawatts of cumulative distributed PV capacity by 2030 and 160 gigawatts by 2035. In the next phase, Jiangsu will focus on shifting distributed PV from fragmented to coordinated development, and from simply generating green power to effectively utilizing it, transforming dispersed rooftop resources into aggregatable, adjustable, and traceable green productivity.

Technological Innovation Drives Quality and Efficiency

Technological innovation is emerging as a key solution to challenges like grid connection difficulties for distributed PV. State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power has developed a distributed PV resource development and allocation platform using artificial intelligence and satellite remote sensing technology. This platform enables precise identification of rooftop solar resources across the province, conducts scientific assessments of grid carrying capacity, supports grid planning, and establishes a solid technical foundation for the efficient and stable grid integration of massive distributed PV systems.

In rural Jiangsu, satellite remote sensing calculations have laid a strong groundwork for the concentrated and contiguous development of distributed PV. Using satellite imagery and deep learning algorithms, the system automatically identifies and classifies rooftop structures across rural areas, evaluates solar resources based on meteorological data, and accurately estimates PV potential—effectively mapping the province's rooftop resource base. Additionally, considering village and grid conditions, the approach encourages medium-voltage aggregation connections to improve PV development efficiency and address challenges such as scattered household installations and insufficient rural grid capacity.

Jiangsu is not only seeing distributed PV flourish across multiple fronts but is also making steady progress in utility-scale and offshore solar projects. New models such as agrivoltaics (combining agriculture with solar generation) and salt pan development are continuously being implemented, allowing farmland and tidal flats to steadily produce green electricity. By the end of July, the province's utility-scale PV capacity reached 30.79 gigawatts.

Among offshore solar projects, the 2-gigawatt Lianyungang CNNC Tianwan tidal flat demonstration project is pioneering a "PV + nuclear" multi-energy complementarity model, expected to generate 2.2 billion kilowatt-hours annually once operational.

Ensuring that solar power can be "connected, delivered, and utilized stably" is crucial for the reliable replacement of renewable energy. To this end, State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power is taking a dual approach: strengthening the main grid through projects like the 500kV coastal second corridor northward extension and the Nantong-Suzhou cross-river passage reinforcement, while also upgrading distribution networks to continuously enhance carrying capacity for distributed PV. The company is also optimizing grid connection services, promoting fully online processes for residential and commercial distributed PV, and achieving "zero visits, zero approvals, zero investment" for low-voltage connections.

The breakthrough of cumulative PV capacity exceeding 100 gigawatts marks both a milestone in Jiangsu's energy transition and a testament to the efficient integration of new energy by modern power grids. Looking ahead, the distribution network department representative stated that State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power will continue to strengthen the full-chain support for PV grid connection and consumption, facilitate the coordinated development of land-based and offshore solar along with source-load synergy, and continue to expand green power supply capacity to contribute to energy security and the achievement of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.