Wind and solar power are expected to account for more than 40% of China’s total installed power generation capacity by the end of the year, after exceeding coal-fired capacity for the first time in the first half, according to the China Electricity Council (CEC). China is expected to add about 300 gigawatt (GW) of solar and wind power capacity to the grid this year, a bit higher than the 293 GW a year earlier. This could boost the cumulative grid-connected wind and solar power generation capacity in China to 1,350 GW by the year-end, accounting for more than 40% of the 3,300 GW total installed capacity from all energy sources, according to the CEC. The continuing momentum in solar and wind power installation could also drive the overall installed capacity of non-fossil fuel energy sources, which include nuclear and hydropower, to 1,900 GW by the end of 2024, or 57.5% of the overall energy mix, versus 53.9% in 2023, the CEC report said.
China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and power consumer, is working towards having 80% of its total energy mix from non-fossil fuel sources by 2060, when it aims to become carbon neutral. The country had a combined 1,180 GW of wind and solar capacity at the end of the first half of the year, accounting for 38.4% of the 3,070 GW overall capacity, according to CEC. Meanwhile, coal-fired capacity fell to 1,170 GW, or 38.1% of total power capacity by the end of June. China, the world’s largest consumer, producer and importer of coal, will see the share of the dirtiest fossil fuel in the energy mix fall below 37% by year-end, according to CEC. President Xi Jinping said in 2021 that the country would “strictly control coal consumption” up to 2025 and “phase down coal consumption” from 2026. Despite the growth in renewable energy capacity, CEC warned that low utilization of clean power will remain a major challenge during the rest of this year. “Some regions will face mounting pressure in absorbing renewable energy and the utilization rate is expected to drop significantly,” the report noted.
Compared with the rapid growth in renewable energy supply, China’s grid infrastructure still requires further upgrades to improve its flexibility in transmission and storage to cope with intermittent wind and solar power supplies. The utilization of solar and wind power capacity in terms of number of hours was less than half of that of coal in the first six months of the year, meaning the actual power generation volume of solar and wind was much lower than coal, according to CEC. Coal accounted for nearly two-thirds of China’s electricity supply in 2023, it said, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
