Thermal power output still rose as electric vehicles, data centers, and chip manufacturing added load.
Renewables overtake coal in relative terms
Wind and solar combined generated nearly 25% of total electricity in the first half, with the overall renewable share hitting 40%. That’s a result of years of investment in solar farms, wind turbines, and hydropower. Still, coal remains the largest single source, and the nation’s appetite for energy continues to grow. Solar power will soon surpass coal as China’s largest source of generation capacity, marking a major milestone in the country’s rapid renewable energy build-out. The baton will be passed at some point in the third quarter of this year, the China Electricity Council said in its half-year report late Thursday. It may have already happened — at the end of June, solar’s 1,274 gigawatts of capacity was just shy of coal’s 1,275 gigawatts, National Energy Administration officials said in a press briefing Thursday.
Grid limits threaten renewable gains
Rapid expansion of renewables has exposed weaknesses in China’s aging power grid. Wind utilization fell to 90.9%, down from 93.5% a year earlier. Solar utilization fell to 91.4% in the first half of the year, according to the National Energy Administration, down from 94.3% a year earlier. Officials now say grid modernization is urgent.
Battery use and grid investment rise
Grid investment grew 14% in the first half, while energy storage spending jumped 74%. The government is trying to keep the transition from coal steady as economic demand surges. Total investment in power generation fell 3.2% in the first six months from a year earlier to 363.7 billion yuan ($54 billion), primarily driven by the pullback in solar, the council said. Installations are likely to rebound, with China set to add 240 gigawatts of new generating capacity in the second half of the year, a 50% increase from the first half.
Xing Yiteng, a top energy official, called the milestone a 'new breakthrough' in China’s green energy transition. But the nation remains the world’s top coal user and biggest greenhouse gas emitter. Its every shift carries weight beyond its borders. Total installed generating capacity is expected to reach 4,300 gigawatts by the end of 2026, with solar and wind accounting for about half of the total, the council said in its latest power industry forecast. The share of thermal power is projected to fall further to 31%. The solar milestone is happening even as China’s record pace of renewable installations has slowed significantly this year, after a policy overhaul ended guaranteed revenue for wind and solar projects. The country added 72 gigawatts of solar in the first half of 2026, after adding 93 gigawatts in May 2025 alone, the last month before the new policy went into effect.