According to available data, China recorded electricity usage exceeding 10 trillion kWh in 2025, a figure roughly twice that reported for the United States. Facing substantial electricity needs, China has channelled funding into both clean energy infrastructure and conventional fossil fuel generation.

The nation operates one of the world's largest solar installations and has directed substantial investment toward wind energy capacity. An Ember Energy report published recently found that such funding had historically strengthened fossil fuel generation rather than replacing it, while noting that a shift toward renewables now appeared to be gaining ground.

Although coal remains the dominant fuel for thermal power generation nationwide, output from coal-fired plants held steady or declined across more than half the country throughout 2025, a pattern not recorded in the previous ten years. The decline was attributable not to a reduction in total power consumption, but to the rate at which new renewable energy capacity came online being sufficient to displace fossil fuel generation.

A broad range of manufacturing sectors in China has been shifting toward electrification, with that electricity increasingly drawn from renewable sources rather than expanded coal-fired generation. According to IEA figures, coal-fired power generation in China — which operates more such plants than any other nation — produced 248% more emissions in 2023 than it did in 2000.

Industrial applications accounted for roughly three-quarters of total coal power demand throughout 2023. In the years that followed, numerous industrial sectors moved away from dependence on fossil fuels. Among the sectors covered are those long considered resistant to decarbonisation, including steel manufacturing and petrochemical refining.

The electrification of large commercial vehicles is also gaining ground. The Ember Energy report found that all-electric vehicles accounted for 26% of new truck purchases in China during 2025, with uptake continuing to climb into 2026. By 2025, battery-powered vehicles had claimed more than half of all passenger car sales in China, marking the first time petrol and diesel models were outsold by electric alternatives. Battery-electric vehicles accounted for roughly one in ten new car purchases across the United States that same year.

Heavy investment in battery storage technology has allowed the country to stabilise electricity supply despite fluctuations inherent in solar and wind power generation. According to the Ember Energy report, fossil fuel consumption across numerous sectors may have reached its peak, with some industries already recording a marked decline.

Fossil fuel use in textile manufacturing, industrial machinery, and resource extraction has fallen by more than two-thirds compared with historical peak levels. Fossil fuel consumption in China's electronics and mineral processing sectors has continued to rise.

The IEA projects that power consumption across China will rise at a rate of nearly 5% per year from 2026 through 2030. Replacing a single coal-fired power station requires upwards of one million solar panels, and the grid infrastructure needed to connect them also requires construction at both speed and scale.

Renewable energy equipment exports from China rose year-on-year during the first half of 2026, even as domestic solar installation activity eased over the same period. These shipments represent a growing share of China's broader economy, with analysts noting that such momentum may help maintain investment in renewable energy even as coal continues to account for the largest portion of the country's power supply.