LONDON/HOUSTON/SINGAPORE: China’s coal-fired power generation decreased 1.9% in 2025, marking a historic shift driven by new non-fossil generation that has finally outpaced demand growth, according to a recent report from Wood Mackenzie.
Power demand grew 5% in China in 2025, or 494 TWh, yet for the first time in a decade, coal-fired power generation did not increase to help meet this demand. Instead, the incremental demand was met by carbon-free generation, with the rapid growth in renewables and constant development of nuclear and hydro capacity.
“At the heart of this transformation is the unprecedented expansion of renewable energy capacity,” said Sharon Feng, senior research analyst for Wood Mackenzie. “China’s wind and solar capacity had risen more than ten-fold to 1842 gigawatts (GW) over the past decade.”
Since 2015, the levelized costs of energy (LCOE) for utility solar and onshore wind have plummeted by 77% and 73%, making renewable energy competitive with fossil fuels. This economic shift has unleashed massive investment, with investors and developers racing to capture market share, added Feng.
Beyond renewables, China has seen nuclear capacity expand from 27 GW in 2015 to 62 GW today, which, combined with hydro now provides 445 GW. Also notable is China’s massive investment in power transmission infrastructure. The country has deployed 340 GW of inter-regional power transmission corridors, connecting remote renewable resources in the west and north to population and industrial centres in the east and south, which is critical to unlocking renewable potential that would otherwise be stranded in sparsely populated western China and bringing it to central and coastal load centres.
Coal’s transformation
According to Wood Mackenzie, coal-fired power capacity factors were as high as 60% in 2011, then declined to 52% in 2024 and 48.2% in 2025. Wood Mackenzie expects the utilization to further decline to 32% by 2035 as portions of the fleet transition to reserve status.
Coal plants are shifting from primary power suppliers to flexibility providers, with around 600 GW completing flexibility retrofits to balance variable renewable generation.
However, some uncertainty remains as to whether this trajectory will hold, mainly: potential surges in power demand growth, extreme weather scenarios, renewable investment growth and systems resilience concerns.
“Coal-fired generation decline in 2025 suggests China’s power sector carbon emissions may have peaked in 2024,” said Feng. “If sustained, this would be a watershed moment for global clean energy and climate efforts. However, given uncertainties, coal generation may remain on an ‘undulating plateau’ rather than entering sustained decline in the next few years, with power sector emissions following a similar pattern.”
For example, the explosive growth of artificial intelligence and data centres in China could drive unexpected spikes in electricity demand. While China is investing heavily in renewable capacity, rapid demand growth may force continued reliance on existing coal-fired power plants to meet immediate needs.
According to Wood Mackenzie, the aggregate capacity of data centres will reach 78 GW by 2030—a 105% increase from 38 GW in 2024. Since a large proportion of this new demand will concentrate in densely populated urban centres, coal-fired power may remain indispensable for maintaining grid reliability.
“Time will tell, but this movement demonstrates the Chinese government’s commitment to reaching its peak carbon commitment by 2030, backed by concrete plans and massive investments,” said Feng.
