According to a report by the U.S.-based think tank Global Energy Monitor (GEM), China is constructing 339 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale wind and solar energy, which accounts for 64% of the total global capacity. The project pipeline of the first-place country is more than eight times that of the second-place U.S., which has 40 GW.

The authors of the paper stated that China’s rapid progress makes it highly achievable to treble renewable capacity by the end of 2030, even without more hydropower. They urge China to increase its climate ambitions in its upcoming promises to the United Nations next year.

Last week, the Sydney-based think tank Climate Energy Finance said that Beijing is on course to achieve its own target of installing 1,200 GW of wind and solar power by this month, which is six years ahead of schedule.

According to GEM research analyst Aiqun Yu, China’s coal-centric power grid is facing difficulties in accommodating the rapid growth of renewable energy sources. To address this issue, there is a need for the accelerated expansion of transmission lines.
However, a different analysis published by Carbon Brief on Thursday revealed that the recent increase in capacity has resulted in renewable generation reaching unprecedented levels.

According to the analysis conducted by Lauri Myllyvirta, senior fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute, China’s electricity generation from coal reached a record low of 53% in May. At the same time, a record high of 44% of electricity came from non-fossil fuel sources. This suggests that China’s carbon emissions may have reached their highest point last year, assuming this trend continues.

The percentage of coal decreased from 60% in May 2023.

In May, solar power generation increased to 12% and wind power generation reached 11%, primarily due to China’s significant addition of new capacity. The remaining non-fossil fuel electricity was comprised of hydropower at 15%, nuclear power at 5%, and biomass at 2%.

In May, the power industry in China experienced a 3.6% decrease in carbon dioxide emissions, which account for almost 40% of the country’s total emissions, due to the increased generation of renewable energy.

“According to Myllyvirta, if China continues to rapidly deploy wind and solar energy, it is expected that the country’s CO2 emissions will continue to decrease, with 2023 being the year when emissions reach their highest point and start to decline.”
In May, solar power generation had an unprecedented increase of 78% compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 94 terrawatt hours (TWh).

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, there was a 29% rise in electricity generation from solar power. However, this figure does not account for the electricity generated by rooftop solar panels, which represents approximately half of the total solar electricity produced.

The new analysis computed the wind and solar power production by utilizing data on the capacity of power generation and the utilization figures provided by the China Electricity Council, an industry body.

Wind power generation increased by 5% compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 83 TWh. This growth was primarily driven by a 21% increase in capacity. However, the overall utilization of wind power was lower due to fluctuations in wind conditions. Hydropower production experienced a significant increase of 39% compared to the previous year, during which it was adversely affected by a drought.

Gas-fired output experienced a decline of 16%, while power generation from coal decreased by 3.7%, despite a 7.2% growth in overall energy consumption compared to the previous year.