Recently released by the China Electricity Council, reveals that by the end of the first quarter, China’s installed capacity for wind and solar power reached 1.48 billion kilowatts, surpassing the total installed capacity of thermal power plants for the first time in history.
Original By NLS
The 2025 National Power Supply and Demand Analysis and Forecast Report, recently released by the China Electricity Council, reveals that by the end of the first quarter, China’s installed capacity for wind and solar power reached 1.48 billion kilowatts, surpassing the total installed capacity of thermal power plants for the first time in history.
As wind and solar power continue to grow rapidly, the report predicts that this shift—where wind and solar combined exceed thermal power in total capacity—will become the new normal. According to the report, in the first quarter alone, China added 85.72 million kilowatts of new power generation capacity, an increase of 16.29 million kilowatts from the same period last year. Of this, wind and solar power accounted for 74.33 million kilowatts, making up nearly 90% of all new capacity added.
In terms of overall electricity supply, by the end of March, China’s total installed power generation capacity reached 3.43 billion kilowatts, marking a 14.6% year-on-year increase. Among this, non-fossil energy power capacity stood at 2.03 billion kilowatts, a 23.4% increase from the same period last year, now accounting for 59.1% of total installed capacity—up 4.2 percentage points compared to the previous year. By March, all provinces in China had reduced the share of coal-fired power below 50%.
Looking ahead, the report forecasts that China’s total electricity consumption will reach 10.4 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2025, growing by around 6% year-on-year. The peak load for the power grid is expected to hit 1.55 billion kilowatts. It also projects that new power generation capacity will exceed 450 million kilowatts, with renewable energy accounting for more than 300 million kilowatts. By the end of 2025, total installed capacity is expected to surpass 3.8 billion kilowatts, a 14% increase year-on-year, with non-fossil energy power accounting for more than 60% of total capacity.