China’s wind+solar overtakes thermal(fossil+biomass) capacity. In terms of generation, a record 22% of total electricity production in China in January and February came from wind+solar

thermal capacity includes coal, gas, oil and biomass, so basically anything that’s burned to produce electricity

reason why generation is growing slower than capacity is that most new capacity is solar nowadays, b**ut its also usually added late in the year**

* last year, more solar capacity was added in China in the last 4 months of 2024 than during the first 8 months of 2024. December alone has like 20% of all added solar capacity in a year
* So all this record solar capacity was added after the summer season was gone

but it’s producing a lot of electricity even now in winter

solar had a 10% share in February 2025, as high as during the peak of summer in 2024

which means that this year summer months should see China reaching 15-16% solar share in total generation, and coal dropping below 50%

China still has a long way to go in its transition, but nonetheless past 2 months wind+solar produced over 1/3 as much electricity as all fossil fuels added together

China should see wind+ solar being at 40% share of total electricity by 2030, even with all the recent electrification of transport and industry