Wind + Solar provide 26% of China's electricity

 From Nicholas Fulghum

Wind and solar generated more than a QUARTER of China's electricity for the first month on record In April 2025, 26% of China's electricity generation was produced by wind and solar according to our latest

@ember-energy.org

data. Wind: 13.6% Solar 12.4%

As the EMBER piece says: 

The April record was driven by both wind and solar hitting individual record high shares. Wind power accounted for 13.6% of generation while solar contributed 12.4%. The rise of solar power in particular has been remarkable. The share of solar power has tripled in the last five years, from just 4.1% in April of 2020. In 2024, China installed more new solar capacity than the rest of the world combined, more than tripling its rate of installations in just two years, from around 103 GW (DC) in 2022 to 333 GW in 2024. Installations have continued at pace in 2025, with 72 GW of new solar added in Q1 alone, up 18% from Q1 2024, according to Ember’s monthly wind and solar capacity data.

The rapid build out of solar capacity in China has pushed not only the share, but also absolute solar generation to new heights. In April 2025, China hit a new record of 96 TWh of solar generation, surpassing the previous record of 89 TWh set in August of 2024. This record may soon be surpassed again as summer conditions further boost output. 

The growth in renewables is also reshaping the overall generation mix. Fossil fuel generation has already declined by 72 TWh—or 3.6%—year-on-year across the first four months of 2025, a shift that’s beginning to show structural signs.

The rate at which wind and solar are increasing means the rise in output from renewables now exceeds the rise in total demand (current running at +-3% per annum), even with electricity demand increasing because of EVs and PHEVs.   Which means, in turn, that China's emissions have peaked.  

Caveats:  growth may soar this year or next, or, for some inexplicable reason, wind and solar will stop growing.  Solar panels continue to decline in cost, and battery costs are falling even faster, meaning solar can be "firmed" easily and cheaply, so solar, at least, is likely to continue growing fast. 

  Note how wind and solar have different seasonal patterns, which means that, combined, less of both is required.  For now, gas will still be required to balance the grid when renewables are low, but the rise in EVs/PHEVs and falling capacity utilisation at coal power stations, means that China has passed peak coal and peak oil.   Since China produces +-25% of the world's emissions, that may mean that world emissions have also peaked.