The new energy plans contained within China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period are expected to create opportunities for energy technology firms, according to a senior executive at Schneider Electric.

As China seeks to transition its new energy industry from scale expansion to value restructuring, companies in the field are ready to work toward high efficiency and sustainability through electrification, automation and digital intelligence solutions, according to the French industrial conglomerate.

"Driven by carbon neutrality targets and the development of new energy systems, the new energy industry is making a transition from scale growth to capability building, so the focus of competition for the sector is also shifting from capacity to system operation capability," said Gu Yue, vice-president of Schneider Electric, who is also head of marketing for China and East Asia.

The building of systematic capabilities requires integrated collaboration in complex scenarios, as well as comprehensive capabilities for global operations. Such advancement is in need of systematic technical solutions, rich experience in scenario applications, and ecological collaboration across the industry chain, said Gu, who was speaking at last week's 19th International Photovoltaic Power Generation and Smart Energy Conference & Exhibition.

Schneider Electric's Shanghai facility located in Putuo district is an example of how technologies including AI are empowering the production. Named by the World Economic Forum as an end-to-end lighthouse factory in 2024, the plant has cut the new product development cycle by 63 percent and raised average production efficiency by 82 percent per person.