China's cumulative installed capacity of wind and solar power reached 2.01 billion kilowatts as of the end of September 2026, the National Energy Administration announced on October 26.
Of this total, solar power accounted for 1.31 billion kilowatts, up 16.5% year on year, while wind power reached 700 million kilowatts, up 20.4% year on year.
"The combined installed capacity of wind and solar power surpassing 2 billion kilowatts means the dominant position of new energy in China's power generation structure has been further consolidated, and the construction of a new power system centered on new energy has made major phased progress," said Liu Zhiqiang, deputy director of the Planning and Development Department of the China Electricity Council.
At present, new energy is developing rapidly and playing an important role in advancing energy transition, safeguarding energy security, and driving investment in the energy sector.
In terms of advancing energy transition, from January to September this year, wind and solar power generation reached 1,933.3 billion kilowatt-hours, an increase of 193.7 billion kilowatt-hours compared with the same period last year. The incremental wind and solar generation accounted for 64% of the total increase in electricity consumption across society, and the carbon reduction benefits of large-scale replacement of traditional fossil fuels by new energy continued to be released.
In terms of safeguarding energy security, on the day of peak summer load this year, the maximum output of wind and solar power during midday accounted for more than 40% of the total load at that time, basically ensuring reliable power supply during the midday peak. The leapfrog development of new energy has effectively enhanced the intrinsic safety level of energy supply.
In terms of driving industrial investment, from large-scale bases to distributed projects, and from onshore to offshore, the new energy industry chain is long, has broad spillover effects, and is highly technology-intensive. From January to September this year, completed investment in wind and solar power across the country accounted for about one-third of total completed investment in the energy sector.
How can China further transform its installed capacity advantage in wind and solar power into stable and reliable power supply capacity? Since the beginning of this year, multiple "15th Five-Year Plan" documents in the energy sector have been released, laying out specific arrangements.
For example, the "15th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development" proposed for the first time goals and tasks for improving the reliable substitution capability of renewable energy power, focusing on key scenarios for power supply security, and setting targets such as the average firm output of wind and solar power, newly added reliable peak-shaving power generation capacity from renewable energy, and the share of wind and solar power in electricity during summer and winter evening peaks. It proposed that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, more than 300 million kilowatts of new reliable peak-shaving power generation capacity from renewable energy will be added.
Liu Zhiqiang said that in the future, with the continued construction of system regulation resources, the continuous improvement of power market mechanisms, and ongoing breakthroughs in consumption and utilization technologies, new energy will achieve qualitative improvement on the basis of scale expansion, gradually realize safe and reliable substitution of traditional energy, and provide solid support for achieving the "dual carbon" goals.
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