China is building two-thirds of new wind and solar globally, report says

BEIJING, July 11 (Reuters) - Almost two-thirds of big wind and solar plants under construction globally are in China, where surging renewable capacity has squeezed coal's generation share to new lows, research released on Thursday showed.

China is building 339 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale wind and solar, or 64% of the global total, a report from U.S.-based think tank Global Energy Monitor (GEM) found. That is more than eight times the project pipeline of the second-place U.S., with 40 GW.

China's pace puts the global goal to triple renewable capacity by the end of 2030 "well within reach" even without more hydropower, the report's authors said, calling on China to lift its targets in climate pledges to the U.N. next year.

Beijing is also on track to meet its own 2030 goal to install 1,200 GW of wind and solar by this month - six years early - Sydney-based think tank Climate Energy Finance said last week.

Absorbing the boom in renewables remains a challenge for China's coal-centred grid and faster development of tra...
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