BEIJING – China, the world's largest coal consumer, generated less than 50% of its electricity from the fossil fuel in the six months to June, marking a first for the country which has been promoting the use of renewable energy, officials said.
Coal's share of the power mix was 49.7%, Xing Yiteng, deputy director general of the energy administration's development and planning office, told a press conference on Thursday.
Renewable energy's share grew to 41.2% - the first time it topped 40% - and of that wind and solar accounted for 24.6%, Xing added. Natural gas and nuclear make up the balance.
Despite coal's shrinking share, analysts say that China might still use more this year than last as power demand rapidly climbs. More Chinese are switching to electric cars, data centres for AI are being built out and exports continue to grow. Planners have set a deadline for coal consumption to peak no later than 2030.
China's targets call for increasing wind and solar to 30% of its power mix by 2030, but Gao Yuhe, Greenpeace East Asia's project manager, says that goal could be hit by 2028, helped by more rooftop solar-plus-battery deployment.
