Solar power overtakes coal as China's largest installed electricity source

Solar power has overtaken coal in China for the first time, but the milestone concerns installed capacity rather than the electricity mix. Photovoltaic facilities had 1,286 gigawatts of capacity at the end of July, according to the country's energy authority, compared with 1,285 gigawatts for coal-fired power plants.

Coal still dominates actual electricity generation. China produced 49.7% of its electricity from coal in the first six months of the year, just under half of total output. Renewable sources accounted for 41.2%, while wind and solar together supplied 24.6%, according to official figures.

China has expanded solar power for years, with extensive fields of panels across the country's western and northwestern regions. State television said solar power represented 31.5% of China's total installed electricity-generation capacity.

The shift in capacity has not ended China's reliance on coal. Coal-fired electricity remains cheap and provides a reserve during energy crises. China also uses coal gasification to produce chemicals that would otherwise require oil, a resource the country depends on imports to obtain. China remains one of the world's largest carbon dioxide emitters.

Solar expansion has also slowed. The energy authority said China added 62% less solar capacity from January through July than during the same period a year earlier. The decline followed a rule change that ended guaranteed price payments for solar projects from the summer of the previous year, leaving prices to market forces.