Charts of the day: China breaks records in construction of solar and wind farms

China is significantly ahead of the rest of the world in building wind and solar capacity. China is currently building 339 gigawatts (GW) of large-scale solar and wind farms, almost two-thirds of the global total of 525 GW. The data was released by the US-based NGO Global Energy Monitor (GEM) (para. 1)(para. 2).

The growth of solar installations in China has been extraordinary. The GEM data highlights that solar capacity currently being built in China exceeds that of the United States by more than six times and Spain by more than 23 times, placing it in second and third place respectively. In terms of wind power, China’s capacity under construction exceeds that of the United States by more than 13 times and that of the UK by more than 20 times. (para. 3).

China is set to meet its 2030 wind and solar capacity target six years ahead of schedule, according to a June forecast from the International Energy Agency (IEA), likely hitting the target this year or next month. GEM’s analysis focused on “utility-scale” projects, which are defined as solar farms with a minimum capacity of 20 megawatts (MW) and wind farms with a capacity of at least 10 MW. But that metric underestimates China’s total renewable energy capacity because it doesn’t account for the country’s growing number of distributed solar installations, such as rooftop solar panels. These smaller projects have boomed since 2021 and now account for 41% of China’s total solar capacity. (para. 4)(para. 5)(para. 6)(para. 7).

China’s rapid success in renewable energy is partly due to the government’s efficiency in achieving its goals. Yu Aiqun, a research analyst at GEM, noted that once China formulated its renewable energy strategy, the entire government system quickly mobilized to implement it. For example, China planned, built and launched almost all of its first batch of wind and solar megaprojects, with a combined capacity of 97 GW in 19 provinces, in just two years. This is more than twice the combined wind and solar capacity currently under construction in all European countries. (para. 8).

Another factor driving renewable energy growth in China is the crowded wind and solar power sector, which has seen rapid expansion. Some companies have even set up solar panel assembly lines directly at solar farms (para. 9).

China, however, faces challenges in integrating this rapid expansion into its power grid. A problem known as “curtailment” — where wind and solar generation fails to meet planned demand due to insufficient grid demand at the time — is growing, particularly in northern and northwestern China. This indicates that China’s power grid is struggling to accommodate the growth of renewable energy. The bottleneck is largely due to slow construction and inadequate planning of the long-distance, very high-voltage transmission lines needed to transport renewable energy from generation sites to demand centers (para. 10)(para. 11)(para. 12).

Despite these challenges, China is taking steps to reduce its reliance on coal. According to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), coal-fired power’s share of China’s total energy mix fell to a record low of 53% in May, driven by increased production from clean energy sources, including solar, wind, hydropower and nuclear. But even with its leadership in renewable energy, China still needs to accelerate solar and wind capacity growth to meet its climate commitments. China aims to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in its energy mix to “around 25%” by 2030, up from 17.9% in 2023. (para. 15)(para. 16)(para. 17).

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