China added almost twice as much utility-scale solar and wind power capacity in 2023 than in any other year. By the first quarter of 2024, China’s total utility-scale solar and wind capacity reached 758 GW, though data from China Electricity Council put the total capacity, including distributed solar, at 1,120 GW.
All told, 2023 saw unprecedented wind and solar growth in China. The unabated wave of construction guarantees that China will continue leading in wind and solar installation in the near future, far ahead of the rest of the world.
Wind and solar now account for 37% of the total power capacity in the country, an 8% increase from 2022, and widely expected to surpass coal capacity, which is 39% of the total right now, in 2024. Cumulative annual utility-scale solar & wind power capacity in China, in gigawatts (GW)
Currently, over half of the nation's new installations of power generators are photovoltaic facilities. The surge prompted the CPIA to revise its projections for China's new PV installations this year, raising the forecast from an initial range of 120-140 GW to 160-180 GW. "China's solar power global market share has exceeded 80 percent.
Capacity under construction for China and Europe updated in June 2024, while other regions accurate to December 2023. What happened in the past year? China added almost twice as much utility-scale solar and wind power capacity in 2023 than in any other year.
Indeed, China is leading the way in renewables development. In July 2024, new data from Global Energy Monitor (GEM) found that China is building almost twice as much wind and solar energy capacity as every other country in the world combined, with 180GW of utility-scale solar and 159GW of wind power already under construction.