Green energy development enters fast lane in China, driving national power generation capacity up 14.6% in 2024

The installed solar and wind power generation capacities in China saw rapid growth in 2024, according to the latest official statistics, a result of the country's accelerated push for new energy development and its green transition.

Installed solar power generation saw the most significant growth, with its capacity standing at about 890 million kilowatts as of the end of 2024, up 45.2 percent year-on-year, accounting for 27 percent of the national installed capacity, official data showed.

As of the end of December, China's total installed power generation capacity reached approximately 3.35 billion kilowatts, rising by 14.6 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the National Energy Administration (NEA) on Tuesday.

Wind power also displayed substantial growth, with installed capacity reaching 520 million kilowatts in 2024, rising by 18 percent year-on-year, making it the second-fastest growing energy source. Nuclear power followed, with installed capacity hitting 61 million kilowatts, up 6.9 percent year-on-year.

The rapid expansion of green power production in China reflects the growing demand for renewable energy, which will continue to propel the country's shift toward green and low-carbon development, Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"China's renewable energy sector has entered a fast lane of growth. While there's still plenty of room to expand its share in overall power generation, solar and wind energy have already become key drivers of the clean-energy transition, with huge growth potential," Lin noted.

Last year, the Chinese government rolled out an action plan to accelerate the all-around green transformation of economic and social development, with a focus on building a new power system and vigorously promoting non-fossil-fuel energy.

The plan calls for speeding up the development of green energy hubs, including wind turbines and solar panels, hydropower, offshore wind and coastal nuclear energy, with the goal of raising the share of non-fossil energy consumption to around 25 percent by 2030.

Due to strong policy support, the annual growth rate of China's new energy sector is hovering in the double digits. Since 2013, wind power capacity has increased sixfold, while solar power capacity has surged by 180 times. China's annual new energy installations account for more than 40 percent of the global total, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

However, Lin noted that the power grid's ability to absorb and make full use of clean energy still needs improvement, "Ensuring stable power generation and efficiently delivering electricity to end-consumers remain key priorities," he added.

To support the construction of the clean-energy system, the National Development and Reform Commission introduced an action plan last year, outlining nine key initiatives, which include ensuring the stability of the power network and tackling challenges related to the large-scale and high-proportion integration of new energy into the state grid.

The data released on Tuesday indicated that, in 2024, China's major power generation companies invested 1.1687 trillion yuan ($161 billion) in power generation projects, up 12.1 percent year-on-year. Also, grid engineering investments reached 608.3 billion yuan, a 15.3 percent rise from one year earlier.