China’s fossil fuel electricity generation dropped for the first time in a decade because its massive expansion of clean energy sources grew faster than the country’s overall need for power. According to the authors of the newly released report, this historic shift occurred as record-breaking solar and wind installations produced enough electricity to meet nearly all of the nation’s new demand.
The report states that “Record clean power additions, predominantly from solar, pushed growth in low-carbon sources above demand growth,” noting specifically that “Wind and solar alone added 474 TWh (+26%), covering 94% of China’s demand growth in 2025.”
Essentially, while China is still using more electricity overall as its economy grows, it has built so many solar panels and wind turbines that these green sources are now doing the heavy lifting. Instead of burning more coal or gas to keep up with the rising need for power, the country was able to use its new fleet of renewables to supply almost all of that extra energy. Because these clean sources provided more new electricity than the total increase in demand, the use of older, polluting fossil fuel plants actually started to go down.
The report “Global Electricity Review 2026” was published by the energy think tank Ember on April 21, 2026. Prepared by a team of researchers led by Nicolas Fulghum, the study offers a comprehensive overview of how clean energy met all global electricity demand growth over the past year.
