Renewables meet all growth in China's electricity demand in 2025: report

BEIJING, June 12 -- China reached a historic climate milestone in 2025 as its additional renewable energy entirely covered the country's growing power needs. This marks the first time that green energy alone has supported all additional energy demand driven by economic growth, according to a report released on Friday.

Newly installed renewable power generation capacity in China reached another record high last year, accounting for more than 60 percent of global additions, according to the China Renewable Energy Development Report.

The report projected that China would add around 300 gigawatts of new wind and solar power capacity in 2026, with renewables continuing to drive the country's green and low-carbon energy transition.

China's installed renewable energy capacity surpassed 2,337 gigawatts in 2025, and renewables accounted for 82.7 percent of newly installed power capacity, according to the report.

Newly installed distributed solar photovoltaic capacity exceeded 100 gigawatts for the second straight year, accompanied by marked improvement in regional power grid consumption and clean energy utilization.

China's electricity generation from renewable sources reached about 4 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2025, exceeding the combined power consumption of the European Union's 27 member states, which stood at roughly 3.8 trillion kilowatt-hours, according to the National Energy Administration.

China has built the world's largest renewable energy system, vowing to accelerate the green transition across the board.