That’s the first month on record where the two technologies have together supplied more than a quarter of demand.
The record-breaking month, revealed by global energy think tank Ember, beats the previous high of 23.7% set just weeks earlier in March.
Solar output alone hit 96TWh – a new monthly record – while wind contributed 13.6% and solar 12.4% of total generation.
Biqing Yang, Asia Analyst at Ember, said: “For the first time, wind and solar are generating over a quarter of the country’s electricity. Yet challenges remain in managing the variability of renewables and accelerating decarbonisation across the end-use sectors. Continued power system reform efforts and institutional development are essential to sustain this momentum.”
The figures mark a rapid transformation.
Solar’s share has tripled since April 2020 when it accounted for just 4.1% of China’s electricity.
Last year, China added 333GW of new solar – more than the rest of the world combined – and it’s on track to outpace that figure again.
In the first three months of 2025 alone, 72GW of new solar capacity was installed, up 18% on the same period last year.
This boom is not just pushing up the share of clean power – it’s reshaping the entire generation mix.
Fossil fuel generation dropped by 72TWh, or 3.6%, year-on-year in the first four months of 2025.
With 2024 confirmed as the hottest year on record, the momentum in China’s power sector is welcome news – but analysts say the real challenge now lies in delivering a flexible, smart and fully decarbonised energy system.
That means not just more renewables but faster grid upgrades, energy storage and electrification of hard-to-abate sectors.
