An aerial drone photo taken on May 7, 2026 shows a view of the Huitengliang wind farm in Xilinhot City, Xilingol League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's installed power generation capacity topped 4 billion kilowatts at the end of May, the first country to reach this milestone in the world, with non-fossil green energy accounting for more than 60 percent of the total, official data showed on Thursday, pointing to a stronger and greener power supply system.

Data released by the National Energy Administration (NEA) showed that China's total installed power generation capacity hit 4.01 billion kilowatts in May, marking a new stage in the country's power supply capability, state broadcaster CCTV News reported.

The 4-billion-kilowatt generating capacity is about 1.7 times the combined installed capacity of the European Union and the US, which accounts for nearly 30 percent of the global total.

Yang Kun, executive vice chairman of the China Electricity Council, said that the new figure is 1.8 times the level at the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, or five years ago. "The solid foundation of 4 billion kilowatts has provided strong support for high-quality economic and social development, giving China a firmer footing in ensuring energy security," Yang said.

China has also been expanding its power generation capacity at an increasingly rapid pace. It took eight years for the country's installed capacity to rise from 1 billion kilowatts to 2 billion kilowatts, and four years and four months to increase from 2 billion kilowatts to 3 billion kilowatts. The rise from 3 billion kilowatts to 4 billion kilowatts took less than two years, official data showed.

The country's strong power generating capacity has supported rapidly growing social demand for electricity. In 2025, China's total electricity consumption exceeded 10 trillion kilowatt-hours. As the Chinese economy continues to gain pace, electricity demand is expected to keep rising, with total electricity consumption likely to hit 11 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2026.

Ge Ju, deputy director of the planning department of the NEA, told the CCTV News that China will continue to expand power supply capacity, vigorously promote new-energy generation by pushing forward with a good number of solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear power projects.

"China will make full use of the supporting role of coal-fired power and other power sources to meet the growing electricity demand driven by economic and social development, and continue to ensure high-quality economic growth with sufficient, clean and stable power supply," Ge said.

The supply expansion has come with a greener energy mix, with non-fossil energy now accounting for more than 60 percent of total installed power generation capacity, according to the CCTV News report.

On June 22, the second cluster of wind turbines at the Hainan Qiyuan offshore wind farm were connected to the state grid. As China's southernmost offshore wind power project, the wind farm is expected to become fully operational at the end of August. 

Once completed, it will generate 1.6 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity a year, and meet the annual electricity demand of 620,000 three-member households in Hainan Province. 

Since the beginning of this year, a number of major energy projects in China have accelerated construction. By the end of May, installed green and renewable energy generation capacity reached 2.49 billion kilowatts, accounting for 62 percent of the country's total installed capacity, up 30 percentage points from 2012.

Yang said that China's newly added electricity demand is now almost entirely met by green power. China has established the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy generating system, achieving a successful transformation of its energy sector from being "sufficient" in supply to becoming "stronger" and "greener."

Technological innovation has helped strengthen China's power generation industry. The country now owns more than 40 percent of global patents in the new-energy sector, while repeatedly setting global records in photovoltaic conversion efficiency and single-unit generation for offshore wind turbines. The installed energy-storage capacity has also reached 136 million kilowatts, the largest in the world.

Global Times