Solar overtakes coal as biggest power source in China

Solar installations in China have for the first time overtaken coal power plants as the country’s largest source of electricity, the national energy authority said on Tuesday.

By the end of July, photovoltaic systems had an installed capacity of 1,286 gigawatts, making them the largest form of power generation, the authority said.

Installed capacity of coal-fired power plants stood at 1,285 gigawatts.

Chinese state television said solar power accounted for a 31.5% share of total installed electricity generation capacity.

China has for years been expanding electricity generation from solar energy, in particular in the west and north-west of the country. It is also however among the biggest emitters of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, partly because of coal production.

Coal power is cheap for China and the country also uses the process of coal gasification to produce chemical substances that would otherwise require crude oil. China relies on imports when it comes to oil.

The expansion of photovoltaic systems is slowing, however.

From January to July this year, the People’s Republic added 62% less solar capacity than in the same period a year earlier, the energy authority said.

The reason is a change in standards which, from the summer of last year, abolished price guarantees for solar power projects and allowed market forces to determine prices going forward.