China targets 50-pct non-fossil power generation by 2030

A drone photo taken on July 6, 2026 shows a view of China Three Gorges Corporation's 180 MW Dongshan Xingchen offshore solar farm in Zhangzhou City, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan)

BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- China aims to raise the share of its electricity generated from non-fossil energy sources to 50 percent by 2030, according to a newly released national plan outlining the country's power sector development for the 2026-2030 period.

The five-year plan, jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration, sets out the overall roadmap for the country's power sector in the 2026-2030 period and targets the initial establishment of a new power system by 2030.

Under the plan, China aims to enable the high-level integration of more than 2.8 billion kilowatts of new energy capacity into the power grid and build a charging infrastructure network capable of supporting over 110 million electric vehicles by 2030.

To achieve these goals, the plan outlines a range of priorities, including expanding green and low-carbon power supplies, building a more coordinated and resilient power grid, enhancing the power system's flexibility, improving electricity supply security, advancing market-oriented power sector reforms, and promoting international cooperation.

The plan calls for balancing the development of renewable energy with grid integration, advancing conventional hydropower projects in a science-based manner, promoting the safe and orderly development of nuclear power, encouraging diversified development of non-fossil energy sources, and improving the efficiency and carbon performance of coal-fired power generation.

By 2030, China plans to increase installed conventional hydropower capacity to around 410 million kilowatts, nuclear power capacity to about 110 million kilowatts, and combined installed capacity of biomass, solar thermal, geothermal and ocean energy to roughly 65 million kilowatts.

Earlier official data showed that coal-fired power had accounted for 49.7 percent of China's total electricity output in the first half of 2026, marking the first time its share had fallen below 50 percent and a new milestone in the country's transition toward a green and low-carbon energy system.

China has pledged to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.