(Yicai) July 31 -- China is set to add about 240 million kilowatts of new power generation capacity in the second half, a 50 percent increase on the 160 million kW added in the first six months of the year, bringing the annual total to 400 million kW amid surging electricity demand from emerging industries, a trade association report said.

China became the first country to surpass total installed capacity of 4 billion kW in the six months ended June 30, a figure expected to rise to about 4.3 billion kW for the whole year, according to the report published yesterday by the China Electricity Council, a non-profit organization representing businesses and institutions involved in the country's power sector.

The expansion is being driven mainly by green energy. By the end of 2026, non-fossil fuel generating capacity is expected to reach 2.7 billion kW, accounting for about 63 percent of the total, the CEC said. Wind and solar energy will make up half of the total, while the share of coal-fired power production is seen falling to around 31 percent.

Electricity production is central to China’s carbon transition goals. In 2020, the country set the twin ambitions of achieving peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.

China needs to step up the development of renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear, while working toward doubling green energy capacity by 2035 compared with current levels, Zhang Lin, who heads the CEC's planning and development separtment, said at a press conference to launch the report.

First-half power consumption rose 5.3 percent to 5.1 trillion kilowatt-hours from a year earlier, compared with 3.7 percent growth in the first six months of 2025, the report said, adding that electricity use in the second half is expected to maintain year-on-year growth of 5 percent to 6 percent.

Emerging industries are the main driving force behind rising electricity demand, with the amount consumed by internet data services surging 44 percent from a year ago, approaching the usage levels for the whole of 2024. Power consumption in the new energy charging and swapping service sector soared 57 percent. 

Together, these two new sectors contributed 17 percent to the overall growth of China’s electricity consumption in the first half, according to the report.

As China continues its push to develop new quality productive forces, demand from these emerging sectors will increase further, said Jiang Debin, deputy director of the CEC’s statistics and digital intelligence department, adding that this will push the power generation mix in a more technology-intensive, green, and low-carbon direction.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting