Clean energy to exceed coal in China's power generation

BEIJING — Clean energy, including nuclear power and renewable energy, is expected to exceed coal in China's electricity generating capacity in about ten years, a senior official has said.

China's installed capacity of clean energy has reached 660 gigawatts (gW), while installed thermal power capacity stood at 900 gW, said Liu Baohua, deputy head of National Energy Administration (NEA).

"In the near future, clean energy will take a leading role in our electricity consumption," Liu said at a forum in Beijing Saturday.

China will cap its coal-fired power capacity at 1,000 gW in 2020, and non-fossil fuel will account for half of the country's total power generation by 2030, Liu said.

China has been promoting green resources such as wind and solar in recent years to cope with pollution and boost the quality of its growth.

In the first nine months this year, China added 63 million kilowatts (kW) of installed capacity of renewable energy, accounting for about 67 percent of the country's total newly installed power capacity over the period, according to the NEA.