(Yicai) Feb. 2 -- China’s installed capacity of new energy power generation is expected to reach about 1.3 billion kilowatts this year, surpassing coal power for the first time, according to a report by the China Electricity Council.

Wind and photovoltaic power will likely account for around 40 percent of China’s total installed power generation capacity by the end of this year, compared with coal’s 37 percent, according to the CEC.

Last year, wind and solar power generation accounted for about 36 percent, and coal made up nearly 40 percent, falling under the threshold of 40 percent for the first time ever.

China adjusted its coal-fired power prices into capacity and electricity prices this year. This allows coal companies to recover part of their fixed costs through capacity electricity prices, thus alleviating their operating difficulties and encouraging them to invest, partially resolving the power shortage issue, said Han Fang, deputy director of the planning department of the CEC.

China’s electricity consumption is expected to increase about 6 percent to 9.8 trillion kilowatt hours this year from last year, according to the CEC. In 2023, the figure rose 6.7 percent to 9.22 trillion kWh from the previous year.

The country’s gross domestic products will likely grow 5 percent this year, and macroeconomic growth supports a steady growth of electricity consumption demand, said Dong Zengbo, deputy director of the statistics and data center of the CEC.

Under the guidance of zero-carbon and carbon neutrality, the electrification level of China’s industry, construction, transportation, agriculture, residential life, and other industries will continue to improve, enlarging the demand for electricity consumption, Dong added.

Moreover, the construction of new infrastructure with high power consumption, such as big data centers and fifth-generation network base stations, is expected to increase rapidly this year, promoting the increase in electricity consumption, Dong noted.

China will likely add 300 million kW of power generation capacity this year to reach 3.25 billion kW of installed power generation capacity at the end of December, up about 12 percent from a year earlier, according to the CEC.

Editor: Futura Costaglione