At the end of July it had reached 1.286 billion kW compared to 1.285 for coal
Installed photovoltaic capacity in China has surpassed that of coal-fired power plants for the first time, becoming the country’s largest electricity source category by installed capacity. The National Energy Administration (NEA) announced this on September 1, as reported by Xinhua. At the end of July, PV capacity had reached 1.286 billion kW, versus 1.285 billion kW for coal.
According to Liu Zhiqiang, deputy director of the planning and development department of the China Electricity Council, the data marks an event of symbolic value for China’s green and low-emission energy transition. At the end of July, the country’s overall electricity generation capacity had reached 4.08 billion kW, with photovoltaics accounting for more than 30% of the total. In the first seven months of the year, 193.97 million kW of new electricity capacity were added, of which 85.65 million came from photovoltaics, more than 40% of the total, Xinhua reports.
The growth concerns both centralized and distributed systems: of the total 1.286 billion kW, 704 million were made up of centralized photovoltaics and 582 million of distributed photovoltaics. Xinhua also points out that China has developed a complete supply chain for photovoltaic research, design and manufacturing, with advances in conversion efficiency and rapid cost reduction.
Overtaking in installed capacity, however, is not equivalent to overtaking in electricity production. In the first seven months of 2026, photovoltaics produced 802.4 billion kWh, equal to 13% of total electricity consumption. Solar production also remains conditioned by the alternation between day and night and by weather conditions, with a lower number of hours of use than coal. For this reason, Liu explains, in the short term coal will continue to play the role of the main source of support for the electricity system and guarantee of grid security.
The next challenge is therefore to transform the advantage in terms of installed capacity into a more stable and reliable electricity supply. The Chinese plan for the development of renewable energy in the period of the 15th Five-Year Plan envisages an annual production from renewable sources of approximately 6,000 billion kWh by 2030, with wind and solar power exceeding 4,000 billion kWh.
