China Solar Hits 1,288 GW, Edges Past Coal — SkimNews
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- China's grid reached 1,288 GW of installed solar capacity, narrowly surpassing coal's 1,285 GW to make solar the country's largest installed generation source at 31.5% of total capacity
- Coal still dominates actual power generation — in the first half of 2026, coal supplied 49.7% of Chinese electricity while wind and solar combined provided just 24.6%, marking the first time coal's share fell below 50%
- Solar deployment slowed this year after China eliminated feed-in tariffs, but installations continued because solar remains cheaper to build than most other generation forms, even with capacity factors near 25% versus coal's roughly 50%
- New coal plants keep coming online because long-term contracts force grid operators to prioritize coal-fired generation, at times curtailing renewables even when they are available to generate
- China's auto market is rapidly electrifying, with pure EV sales rising and internal-combustion vehicle sales falling, raising the stakes for cleaner grid electricity to power that growth
Why it matters: China's EV boom is loading more electricity demand onto a grid where coal still supplies nearly half the power, so the country's carbon trajectory depends on whether solar's installed-capacity lead translates into actual generation share — a gap amplified by coal's roughly double the capacity factor of solar.
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