Power production capacity in China 2010-2021

As of 2021, approximately 2,380 gigawatts of electricity generation capacity had been installed in China. This was up from some 2,000 gigawatts the previous year and follows a trend of steady growth over the past decade. Thermal power, the majority of which is coal-based, is the energy source with the greatest power generation capacity in the country.

China's surging energy demand

China is known to be the most populated country in the world. The country's population growth coupled with rapid economic development has created a huge burden on energy requirements in the country. In less than two decades, energy consumption of China tripled, from less than 43 million exajoules to over 145 exajoules in 2020.

Renewable capacity additions

In order to cope with the growing energy demand, China has been increasing its capacity and overall generation volume of electricity from a diverse range of energy sources. Although most of this growth came from thermal power, which has been the main source of energy in China for a long time, renewables are expected to make up around 50 percent of total installed capacity by the end of 2022. Deployment of wind and solar farms has been particularly strong in the last few years and comes after President Xi announced in 2021 that China would aim to become carbon neutral by 2060.