On February 2, 2026, the China Electricity Council released its annual forecast report, outlining a clear picture of China's power system accelerating its green transformation. The report not only confirms the historic breakthrough of 10 trillion kilowatt hours in China's total electricity consumption by 2025, but also predicts a milestone change in 2026: the installed capacity of solar power is expected to surpass coal-fired power for the first time, becoming the largest type of power source in China's installed capacity. This transformation marks the acceleration of China's energy structure towards a new type of power system dominated by non fossil fuels.

Electricity consumption exceeds 10 trillion yuan by 2025

In the past year, China's electricity consumption has shown the characteristics of both total breakthrough and structural optimization. By 2025, the total electricity consumption of the society will reach 10.37 trillion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%, firmly ranking as the world's largest electricity consumer. Among them, the monthly electricity consumption in July exceeded 1 trillion kilowatt hours for the first time, also setting a global record. From a structural perspective, the secondary industry remains the fundamental sector, accounting for 64.0% of electricity consumption. In particular, the electricity consumption of high-end manufacturing industry increased by 6.4% year-on-year, while the electricity consumption of new three industries such as new energy vehicles and photovoltaic equipment manufacturing showed impressive growth. The tertiary industry has become a new engine of growth, with power consumption increasing by 8.2% year on year, of which the power consumption of charging services and Internet data services surged by 48.8% and 30.7% respectively, demonstrating the strong vitality of the digital economy and new infrastructure. The electricity consumption of urban and rural residents has also maintained rapid growth, thanks to the continuous upgrading of rural power grids. By 2024, China's electrification rate has reached 28.8%, surpassing major developed economies in Europe and America.

New energy has become the main driver of electricity growth

On the supply side, the pace of green transformation has significantly accelerated. By the end of 2025, the installed power generation capacity in China will reach 3.89 billion kilowatts, of which the proportion of non fossil energy installed capacity has risen to 61.7%. The total installed capacity of wind and solar power reached 1.84 billion kilowatts, accounting for 47.3% of the total installed capacity. More importantly, among the 550 million kilowatts of new installed capacity in China by 2025, the proportion of new wind and solar installations will reach 80.2%. In terms of power generation, the total non fossil energy power generation reached 4.47 trillion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of 14.1%, accounting for 42.9% of the total power generation. The newly generated electricity from new energy sources such as wind power, photovoltaics, and biomass almost covers the entire society's new electricity demand, accounting for 97.1%, which means that China's electricity growth is mainly met by green electricity. The investment in the power grid will be increased synchronously. By 2025, the investment in power grid engineering construction will reach 639.5 billion yuan, the construction of ultra-high voltage AC/DC channels will be accelerated, the transmission of electricity across regions and provinces will continue to grow, and the capacity for resource allocation will be significantly enhanced. Keywords: Latest news on photovoltaics, Latest news on photovoltaics

By 2026, the installed capacity of solar energy will surpass that of coal-fired power plants for the first time

Looking ahead to 2026, the green transformation of electricity will take a decisive step forward. The China Electricity Council predicts that by 2026, the total electricity consumption in the country will continue to maintain a growth rate of 5% -6%, reaching 10.9 to 11 trillion kilowatt hours. On the supply side, it is expected that the new installed capacity of electricity for the whole year will exceed 400 million kilowatts, of which the new installed capacity of new energy is expected to exceed 300 million kilowatts. By the end of 2026, the national installed power generation capacity is expected to reach around 4.3 billion kilowatts, and the proportion of non fossil energy installed capacity will further increase to about 63%. The most iconic prediction is that the installed capacity of solar power will surpass that of coal-fired power for the first time this year; At that time, the total installed capacity of wind and solar power is expected to reach half of the total installed capacity, while the proportion of coal-fired power installed capacity will decrease to around 31%. This structural reversal is not only a result of technological progress, but also a reflection of the sustained efforts of policies under the dual carbon target, indicating that a new type of power system dominated by new energy is accelerating its formation.Editor/Gao Xue