China leans heavily on fossil fuels for 65% of electricity in 2023

Despite this, the country also led in solar and wind energy generation.

China generated 65% or 6,102 terawatt-hours (TWh) of its electricity from fossil fuel in 2023 to meet the rising electricity demand due to poor hydropower conditions, according to energy think tank Ember.

In the Global Electricity Review 2024 report, Ember said 60% of its generation came from coal, which is above the Asia average of 56% and the global average of 35%. As a result, the country accounted for over half of the global coal generation.

Coal power generation rose by 5.9% or 319 TWh meeting 53% of the increase in electricity demand, as the 4.5% decline in hydropower generation required the greater use of fossil fuels.

The country's electricity demand grew by 6.9% YoY during the period.

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Meanwhile, clean electricity accounted for 35% or 3,353 TWh of the country’s electricity mix, still led by hydro which accounted for 13%.

Despite this, wind and solar posted a record-high share of 16%.

“China was responsible for 37% of global generation from solar and wind in 2023, and now generates enough electricity from these two sources to power the whole of Japan,” the report read.

Wind and solar met 46% of the demand increase, making the sector the sources with the fastest relative growth in the generation, the report read.