China Becomes the First Country in the World to Surpass 1,000 GW of Solar Power Capacity
Münster (Germany) – China is rapidly becoming the driving force behind the global expansion of renewable energy. In the first six months of 2025 alone, China installed new solar systems with a total capacity of 210 GW (210,000 MW).
China’s economic and industrial policy consistently focuses on renewable energy, battery storage, and electromobility. The Chinese government aims to reduce the high import risks and geopolitical dependencies associated with fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal in order to operate on global markets from a position of industrial strength.
China Doubles New Renewable Power Capacity in the First Half of 2025
According to data from the China Electricity Council (CEC), China nearly doubled the newly installed wind and solar power capacity in the first half of 2025 compared to the previous year.
Newly added power generation capacity reached 290 GW (290,000 MW) in the first six months. Of this, 210 GW came from solar power (+107.1% compared to the same period last year) and 50 GW from wind power (+98.9%). The CEC data did not include any information on new nuclear power plant capacity, but according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), no new Chinese nuclear power plants were connected to the grid in the first six months of this year.
China First to Exceed 1,000 GW of Solar Power Capacity
With the addition of 210 GW of solar power in the first half of 2025, China’s total installed photovoltaic capacity has already reached 1,100 GW. For the first time, a country has surpassed the 1,000 GW mark in solar capacity.
According to China Daily, the expansion of renewable energy will continue in the coming years. For the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), the CEC expects an annual increase of 200 to 300 GW in renewable energy capacity, as stated by Zhang Lin, head of the Planning and Development Department, on Wednesday in Beijing.
For the full year 2025, current plans call for more than 500?GW of new power generation capacity, around 400?GW of which is to come from renewables. Given the strong figures from the first half of the year, actual additions by year’s end may significantly exceed these projections.
In total, China’s installed power capacity is expected to rise to around 3.9 TW (3,900 GW) by the end of 2025 — an increase of approximately 16.5% compared to the previous year. At the same time, the CEC expects electricity consumption in 2025 to increase by 5 to 6%, with stronger growth anticipated in the second half of the year.
China Outlook to 2030: National Solar Power Generation to Equal Global Nuclear Power Capacity
By the end of 2024, China had installed 890?GW of solar capacity. With the addition of 210?GW in the first half of 2025, the 1,000?GW mark was exceeded for the first time. By the end of 2025, total solar capacity in China is expected to reach around 1,300?GW.
“The solar power produced in China in 2025 alone will already account for about half of the annual electricity generation of all nuclear power plants operating worldwide,” said Dr. Norbert Allnoch of Internationales Wirtschaftsforum Regenerative Energien (IWR).
By the end of the decade, the IWR expects solar capacity in China to reach up to 2,500?GW. This would allow China’s solar power generation alone to significantly exceed global nuclear power production. “But that’s merely a side effect,” Allnoch emphasized. At its core, it’s about a clearly defined strategy: China aims to further expand its leading position in the future sectors of renewable energy technology, storage technology, and electromobility, gradually reduce its dependency on fossil fuels, and serve both national and international markets from a position of industrial strength.
Source: IWR Online, 25 Aug 2025
