China plans to raise renewable energy production to 1.8 billion tonnes of coal equivalent by 2030, up from 1.18 billion tce in 2025, under a plan covering wind, solar, storage, hydropower, and green hydrogen. Yet the country keeps expanding coal power at the same time, and its power-sector emissions rose in early 2026.
China set a target to raise its renewable energy production to 1.8 billion tons of coal equivalent by 2030. That is up from 1.18 billion tce in 2025. The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the plan in July, part of China's 15th Five-Year Plan, and it calls for wind and solar power output to grow 53% by 2030.
World's largest renewable pipeline keeps growing
China already leads global renewable rollout. The country installed about 360 GW of wind and solar capacity in 2024, more than 50% of global additions that year, lifting its total installed base to 1.4 TW, about one-third of the world's 4.5 TW capacity. Its solar pipeline now stands at roughly 664 GW planned or under construction, about one-third of the global total, while its proposed wind capacity reaches almost 700 GW, or one-quarter of the world's total.
Storage and hydropower back the buildout
The plan wants wind and solar, backed by storage, to supply 8% of installed capacity at peak demand and 20% of electricity during demand spikes, and it targets more than 300 GW of renewable capacity that can be dispatched on demand. Beijing also aims for 570 GW of hydropower capacity, including 160 GW of pumped storage, by 2030, alongside 150 million tce of wind and solar use outside the power sector, such as heating, cooling, and green hydrogen, a sector it wants to grow to 2 million metric tons by the end of the decade.
Coal expansion clouds the emissions goal
Despite the renewable push, China keeps expanding coal power to keep its grid stable. In 2025 the country contributed 78% of global coal power capacity that came online. It also accounts for 86% of coal capacity under construction worldwide.
Coal power output rose in early 2026, and power-sector emissions increased in the first four months of the year, though they remain below 2024 levels. Qi Qin, an analyst at CREA, said: "China has installed enormous amounts of solar and wind capacity".
China is rolling out renewables faster than any other country, but its continued reliance on coal has the potential to undermine its emissions targets in the coming decades.
Source: Oilprice.com
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