July 30th, 2026, Beijing. At the regular press conference of the National Energy Administration, a set of data released by Pan Huimin, Deputy Director of the New Energy Department, has attracted attention: in the first half of the year, China's wind and solar power generation totaled 1.25 trillion kilowatt hours, accounting for 24.6% of the total electricity consumption in the society. This means that for every four kilowatt hours of electricity in China, one degree comes from wind and light. The proportion of coal-fired power generation has fallen below the historic threshold of 50% for the first time, and the green transformation of China's power system is shifting from quantitative change to qualitative change.

Wind and solar installations sit flat with coal level

As of the end of June 2026, the total installed capacity of wind and solar power in China reached 1.951 billion kilowatts, accounting for approximately 48.3% of the country's total installed power, which is basically on par with the installed capacity of coal-fired power generation (1.275 billion kilowatts). In the first half of the year, the newly installed capacity of renewable energy in China was 117 million kilowatts, accounting for 73.9% of all newly installed capacity, continuing to maintain its position as the main body of newly installed capacity. The installed capacity of solar power reached 1.274 billion kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 15.8%, becoming the strongest engine driving the growth of clean energy.

Wind and solar power generation accounts for over a quarter of the total

In the first half of 2026, renewable energy generation will reach nearly 2 trillion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of about 9%, accounting for 41.2% of total power generation and surpassing 40% for the first time. Among them, the total amount of wind and solar power generation was 1.25 trillion kilowatt hours, a year-on-year increase of 9.3%, accounting for 24.6% of the total electricity consumption in society, reaching about 1.3 times the electricity consumption of the tertiary industry during the same period (991.6 billion kilowatt hours). The increase in renewable energy generation is 159.8 billion kilowatt hours, covering 61.9% of the total increase in electricity consumption in society and becoming the main force in meeting the demand for new electricity. Keywords: solar energy storage projects、Wind power energy network

Multi variety collaborative construction of clean power system

In terms of hydropower, 6.03 million kilowatts were added to the grid in the first half of the year, with a cumulative installed capacity of 454 million kilowatts. Wind power added 38.62 million kilowatts, accumulating 679 million kilowatts, with an average utilization rate of 90.9%. Photovoltaics added 72.07 million kilowatts, accumulating 1.274 billion kilowatts, with a utilization rate of 91.4%. The cumulative installed capacity of biomass power generation is 47.91 million kilowatts, and the installed capacity of solar thermal power generation increased by 39.5% year-on-year to 2.12 million kilowatts. All varieties advance together, jointly supporting the increasingly clean Chinese power supply system.Editor/Gao Xue