China’s Coal Power Share Falls Below 50% for First Time

China’s coal-fired power plants generated 49.7 percent of the country’s electricity in the first half of 2026 — the first time the half-year share has fallen below the 50 percent mark — according to CCTV News, which cited data from the National Energy Administration (NEA). Renewable sources, meanwhile, supplied a record 41.2 percent of generation over the same period, underscoring the accelerating shift in the world’s largest electricity system.

Experts quoted by CCTV News said coal power’s share falling below 50 percent is of “milestone significance” for China’s energy transition.

Context

China pledged in September 2020 to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 — the “dual carbon” goals. When those targets were set, thermal power, dominated by coal, supplied close to 70 percent of the country’s electricity. The H1 2026 data represent a structural turning point in that trajectory: coal generation fell to 2.5 trillion kilowatt-hours, while renewables moved to within striking distance of coal in the generation mix.

Key Developments

The NEA released the figures at its quarterly press conference on July 30. According to the agency’s official statement, renewable generation reached nearly 2 trillion kWh in the first half, up about 9 percent year-on-year. Wind and solar together generated 1.25 trillion kWh, a 9.3 percent increase, equivalent to roughly one-quarter of total social electricity consumption.

Pan Huimin, deputy director of the NEA’s New Energy and Renewable Energy Department, told the briefing that the renewable share exceeded 40 percent for the first time: “In the first half of this year, national renewable energy power generation was nearly 2 trillion kWh, up about 9 percent year-on-year, accounting for 41.2 percent of total power generation, with the share exceeding 40 percent for the first time.”

Other highlights from the NEA data:

• Renewable installations added 117 GW in H1 2026, representing 73.9 percent of all new capacity and keeping renewables the main source of new installations.
• Total renewable capacity reached 2.455 billion kW by end-June, up 13.7 percent year-on-year and equivalent to about 60.7 percent of China’s installed power capacity.
• Solar PV installed capacity (1.274 billion kW) was nearly identical to coal-fired capacity (1.275 billion kW), a landmark convergence.
• The increase in renewable generation — 159.8 billion kWh — covered 61.9 percent of the growth in total social electricity consumption.

Analysis

The crossover carries significance beyond the numbers. Bloomberg, in a report carried by Taiwan’s UDN Economic Daily, described the sub-50 percent coal share as “a symbolic milestone” in China’s clean-energy transition. It also places China within a global trend of declining coal shares in major power systems.

Yet the transition is far from complete. Coal still generates nearly half of the country’s electricity, and that capacity remains essential for grid stability. Wind and solar utilization rates — 90.9 percent and 91.4 percent, respectively — point to ongoing challenges in integrating variable renewable output, even as storage and grid investment expand. The near-parity between solar and coal installed capacity also raises questions about curtailment and the pace at which new renewables can be absorbed.

From a global perspective, China’s generation mix matters for coal markets, emissions trajectories, and the credibility of international climate pledges. Every percentage point shift away from coal in the world’s largest power sector has outsized implications for global energy demand and carbon emissions.

What’s Next

The NEA has set the goal of initially building a new energy system by 2030, with carbon peak and carbon neutrality as the guiding framework. The key question is whether the coal share keeps falling at this pace — and whether investments in grid infrastructure, energy storage, and market reforms can absorb renewables at scale. The H1 2026 statistics suggest the answer will shape not only China’s emissions trajectory but also the outlook for global energy markets in the decade ahead.