China's green transition underpinned by coal 'backup'

Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

China's rapid renewable energy expansion has stunned the world, yet even as this transition accelerates, international critics have focused on the country's simultaneous increase in coal-fired power capacity. These observers argue that the trend is both logically and economically unsound, a perceived "double-down" on fossil fuels that contradicts global climate goals.

However, leading energy experts argue that this is not a contradiction but a strategic necessity, as the rapid transition to green energy would be impossible without the stability provided by coal. This strategy is rooted in the reality that while renewables like wind and solar are expanding at a record pace, their inherent intermittency requires a massive, reliable backup system to ensure national energy security.

According to industry experts and data from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China's coal-fired fleet is being transformed into a high-tech "insurance policy" that provides the bedrock of stability required to support the world's largest and fastest green energy revolution.

At the heart of this strategy is a fundamental evolution in the role of coal. Traditionally, coal was the "baseload" of the Chinese economy, running at maximum capacity to fuel the nation's rapid industrialization. Today, that role is being redefined.

Wang Zhixuan, a professor from North China Electric Power University, said that the role of coal in China has fundamentally shifted from being the primary source of daily power to serving as a flexible "safety net" for the grid.

This coal-fired power "backup" enables the country to pursue its low-carbon transition without compromising energy security.

He highlighted the rapid expansion of China's power generation capacity since the 1990s, a trend propelled by the nation's swift industrialization and the global shift of industries from the developed world.

"In the 1990s, China's per capita installed capacity was so low that it was equivalent to powering a mere two light bulbs per person," he said.

According to official figures, China's per capita installed power capacity was only about 0.24 kilowatts in 1999. As of the end of 2024, however, that figure had surged to 2.5 kilowatts.

This dramatic growth has accompanied an industrial journey that China has traversed in mere decades, but which took developed nations a century or two, Wang said.

The rapid GDP growth and historic improvements in living standards since China's reform and opening-up from the late 1970s have inevitably required large-scale energy support. This pattern is consistent with industrialization in developed countries.

What distinguishes China's experience, Wang said, is that its energy consumption has not only fueled domestic living standards, but also supplied a vast quantity of goods to the world.

Having been the first to industrialize, Western nations subsequently transferred many of their heavy and chemical industries abroad, primarily to China, driven by the dynamics of globalization, he said.

Currently, China's total per capita electricity use has reached about 7,000 kilowatt-hours, which approaches the average level of member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

This aggregate figure masks a stark structural contrast: per capita residential electricity consumption in China stands at only about 1,000 kWh, roughly one-third of the level in post-industrial Western nations.

This disparity stems from the fact that in China, 65 percent of electricity is consumed by the industrial sector, Wang said, adding the electricity consumption of the tertiary industry and residential sector accounts for about 16 percent and 19 percent of the total, respectively.

In developed countries, the electricity consumption of the secondary industry, tertiary industry and residential sector each accounts for roughly one-third of the total.

A substantial portion of China's electricity ultimately serves global supply chains, Wang said.