China Has Continued to Open Coal Plants, But They’re No Longer a Problem: Renewables Have Just Overtaken Their Capacity

China, the world’s largest producer, importer, and consumer of coal, has done the unthinkable: It's managed to generate more power through renewables than fossil fuels.

In a coal country, renewables are king. Until 2023, coal represented nearly two-thirds of China’s electricity supply. Growing energy demand and poor grid flexibility made China heavily dependent on the most polluting fossil fuel.

However, a massive investment in wind and solar power has accelerated the seismic shift: Chinese renewables surpassed fossil fuels in generating capacity in the first half of 2024, according to the country’s energy association.

40% renewables by the end of the year. The China Electricity Council forecasts that coal’s share will fall below 37% by the end of 2024. At the same time, it expects wind and solar energy to represent 40% of installed capacity.

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This forecast assumes that China will add 300 gigawatts of renewable capacity to the national grid this year, slightly more than the 293 GW it installed last year and twice as much as the rest of the world combined. Wind and solar energy would add 1,350 GW of capacity, about 40% of the 3,300 GW from all sources.

Nuclear and hydroelectric energy are also growing. The report also forecasts that nuclear and hydro energy will accompany renewables in their expansion with 1,900 GW of clean capacity by the end of 2024.

Nuclear and hydro represented 53.9% of China’s energy mix in 2023, and new installations would raise their share to 57.5%.

Tight control on coal. Energy demand remains challenging for China, which approved an additional 25 GW of coal-fired capacity at the end of 2023.

However, reliance on fossil fuels is rapidly declining due to renewable energy and a tight consumption control ordered by China’s President Xi Jinping in 2021. The country expects to reduce coal use beginning in 2026 and become carbon neutral by 2060.

This article was written by Matías S. Zavia and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.

Image | John Fowler (CC) | U.S. Department of Energy

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