Chinese firms made more than 70% of new turbines in 2024, while exports jumped 50% in 2025 to over 28GW across more than 60 countries.
Europe needs 33GW of new wind capacity a year to hit its 2030 target but has averaged 16-19GW, making cheaper Chinese turbines an attractive but politically sensitive option.
US wind deployment fell to 5.2GW in 2024 and orders halved in early 2025 as tariffs and restrictions shut out Chinese technology, pushing Beijing deeper into Belt and Road markets.
Has China's dominance in green energy created a critical new global dependency?
With oil supplies at risk, which energy strategy will prove more resilient: China's green grid or America's fossil fuels?
Is China's revolutionary UHV power grid the real key to a global green energy future?
China’s Record 430 GW Wind and Solar Capacity Added in 2025 Drives Global Energy Shift
Overview
In 2025, China achieved record growth in renewable energy by adding 311 GW of solar and 119 GW of wind capacity, pushing total power capacity to 3,890 GW and surpassing coal capacity for the first time. This rapid expansion, driven by ambitious policies and China’s dominant clean energy supply chain, led to a 1.6% drop in coal power generation and a 21-month plateau in CO2 emissions. However, the surge created grid challenges like curtailment, prompting major investments in grid modernization and flexibility solutions such as energy storage and demand management. China's clean energy scale also lowered global technology costs, accelerating the worldwide energy transition while highlighting risks from coal expansion and supply chain vulnerabilities.