China’s solar power generation overtakes wind for first time
The rapid growth of renewables helps China meet its growing electricity consumption last year
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[BEIJING] China’s solar power generation overtook wind for the first time last year as a boom in cheap panels continues to reshape the country’s grid and climate trajectory.
The nation produced 1.17 million gigawatt-hours of electricity from solar power in 2025, up 40 per cent on a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in its annual report published on Saturday (Feb 28). That edged out wind generation, which rose 13 per cent to 1.13 million gigawatt-hours.
The rapid growth of renewables helped China meet its growing electricity consumption last year without the need to burn more coal at power plants, with thermal generation falling 0.7 per cent.
Even so, coal remains the dominant source of China’s power and the fuel’s share of total energy consumption fell only marginally in 2025 to 51.4 per cent. Total coal consumption was 0.1 per cent higher, likely reflecting the fuel’s use in the growing coal-to-chemicals sector.
China produced more electricity using solar last year than Japan’s entire grid, and panels now account for 11 per cent of the nation’s total generation, compared to less than 1 per cent a decade ago. That is the result of the huge supply chain Chinese companies have developed and the versatility of the technology, which is quick to deploy and has been adopted in a wide range of locations – from vast desert installations to small village rooftops.
Still, solar’s rise has not been without complications. Most equipment manufacturers are struggling with losses because of overcapacity and low prices, while the influx of so much electricity in daylight hours means major investment is now needed in power lines and energy storage facilities to ensure the electricity does not go to waste.
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Wind technology tends to produce power for more hours of the day than solar, meaning it is only now being overtaken in terms of generation – even though panels have offered greater capacity in China for several years. BLOOMBERG
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