China’s power capacity could double by 2030

Most of capacity to come from renewables.

Estimates predict capacity will increase by 1,600 GW to 2,700 GW. Attaining this capacity could cost China US$3.9 trillion with US$1 trillion of this total spent on infrastructure.

Analysts said most of the growth will come from renewables with 47GW installed annually. Renewable capacity is expected to match that of coal by 2030, each contributing 44% to China’s total.

There will, however, still be high growth in coal-fired capacity with an extra 25 GW added each year, the equivalent of two new plants each month.

Coal will stay dominant in China in actual electricity. It will remain the source of 58% of electricity generated, down from 72% in 2012 while renewables will increase from just 21% to 29%.