China sees rapid green and low-carbon energy transition from 2021-2025

BEIJING - During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China has seen its green and low-carbon energy transition accelerate at the fastest pace, according to Wang Hongzhi, head of the National Energy Administration (NEA).

During the period, green electricity accounted for one-third of China's total electricity consumption, according to the NEA.

Green electricity is generated from renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and biomass power.

China has continuously increased the supply of non-fossil energy, creating the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system. Between 2021 and 2025, the installed capacity of renewable power generation increased from 40 percent to around 60 percent, with wind and photovoltaic power playing a central role in this energy transition, according to the NEA.

Li Chuangjun, director of the new energy and renewable energy department of the NEA, said that the total installed capacity of wind and solar power in China has increased from 530 million kilowatts in 2020 to 1.68 billion kilowatts by the end of July 2025, marking an average annual growth rate of 28 percent.

The proportion of wind and photovoltaic power generation in total electricity consumption increased from 9.7 percent in 2020 to 18.6 percent in 2024, with an average annual growth of over 2 percentage points.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China took the lead globally in terms of new energy and other related technological equipment, with new energy patents accounting for over 40 percent worldwide.

By the first half of this year, China's new-type energy storage capacity had reached around 95 million kilowatts, marking nearly a 30-fold increase over five years and ranking first globally.

In 2024, China's hydrogen production and consumption exceeded 36 million tons, maintaining the top position globally, with renewable energy-based hydrogen production capacity accounting for more than half of the world's total, according to the NEA.

Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), Yang Kun, executive vice chairman of the China Electricity Council, said that efforts should focus on ensuring the reasonable utilization rates of both newly-built and existing renewable energy power generation projects.

At the same time, diversified renewable energy non-electric application scenarios should be expanded, including green hydrogen production and renewable heating, while accelerating innovative breakthroughs in integration technologies, Yang noted.