Offshore wind turbines are pictured in the waters of Laizhou City, east China's Shandong Province, Jan. 7, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

The newly installed capacity of renewable energy in 2024 accounted for 86 percent of China's total newly installed power capacity, while the cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy made up a record high of 56 percent of the nation's total, according to new data from the National Energy Administration (NEA).

The NEA data released Monday showed that China's renewable energy sector added a new installed capacity of 373 million kilowatts in 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 23 percent. Hydropower and wind power contributed 13.78 million kilowatts and 79.82 million kilowatts, respectively, while solar power and biomass power increased by 278 million kilowatts and 1.85 million kilowatts.

By the end of 2024, the cumulative installed capacity of the country's renewable energy reached 1.889 billion kilowatts, a 25 percent increase from the previous year. Hydropower accounted for 436 million kilowatts, wind power for 521 million kilowatts, solar power for 887 million kilowatts, and biomass power for 46 million kilowatts.

Last year was the second year that China's cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy power generation has exceeded 50 percent of the country's total installed capacity. By the end of 2023, the renewable energy power generation capacity in China surpassed half of the total installed capacity for the first time in history.

Meanwhile, China's renewable energy generation also reached 3.46 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2024, with a year-on-year rise of 19 percent, accounting for about 35 percent of the total electricity generated. T

The combined power generation from wind and solar energy amounted to 1.83 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2024, a 27 percent increase from 2023. The figure is roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of the tertiary industry in 2024, and surpasses the residential electricity consumption, which stood at 1.49 trillion kilowatt-hours.

As China strives to achieve its dual carbon goals, the country is vigorously developing a green economy, with renewable energy as one of the engines.