Solar power capacity surpasses coal

For the first time ever, according to China’s National Energy Administration, solar power capacity has overtaken coal-fired power capacity, at 1.286 billion and 1.285 billion kilowatts, respectively.

Driven by a 15.5 percent rise in solar energy generation since the start of 2026, solar energy has now become the largest power source category in the nation, marking a significant step in meeting their pledge of peaking carbon emissions by 2030.

Coal power has been the driving force behind China’s industrialisation, and today the country is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases worldwide, but the nation has recently seen this trend shift, with coal power generation falling by 2% in 2025.