More than half of China’s new power generation capacity growth by 2030 will be from renewable sources. By that time the installed renewable capacity will be equal to that of coal. Coal-fired power generation capacity will decrease from 67% in 2012 to 44% in 2030 though in absolute terms will continue to grow by 25GW/yr – still almost one-third of new construction and equal to two large coal plants every month. Renewables including hydro will increase from 27% to 44% in 2030 at 47GW/yr.
Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Note: Pumped hydro excluded.
This means that China is going to invest a lot in its renewable energy infrastructure, but that the need for cleaner coal-fired power generation technologies will continue to grow as well.
For more details please read the full report by Bloomberg – New Energy Finance: The Future of China’s Power Sector