The National Energy Administration has released its power sector statistics for the January-July period. As of the end of July, the country's cumulative installed power generation capacity reached 4.08 billion kilowatts, marking an 11.0% increase year-on-year. This figure continues to set a new global record for total installed capacity.

Among the breakdown, solar power installations reached 1.29 billion kilowatts, up 16.1% from the previous year, while wind power capacity expanded to 690 million kilowatts, a robust 19.5% growth. Combined, wind and solar installations now approach the 2 billion kilowatt mark—a scale that exceeds the total installed capacity of many nations' entire power systems.

When examining growth rates, wind power leads all energy sources with a 19.5% annual increase, followed closely by solar at 16.1%. Both far outpace the average growth rate of 11.0% for total capacity, solidifying their status as the primary engines driving overall installation expansion.

Looking at new additions, the first seven months saw 193.97 million kilowatts of newly installed capacity, a reduction of 138.51 million kilowatts compared to the same period last year—a decline of approximately 41.7%. While wind and solar new installations contracted notably, thermal, nuclear, and hydro power bucked the trend with increases. Solar added 86.15 million kilowatts, a sharp drop of 139.22 million kilowatts (down 61.8% year-on-year), while wind contributed 47.07 million kilowatts, a decrease of 7.78 million kilowatts (down about 14.2%).

In contrast, thermal power expanded by 50.3 million kilowatts, adding 3.92 million kilowatts more than the previous year, representing an 8.5% gain. Nuclear power added 3.62 million kilowatts, doubling from zero additions in the prior-year period, a 100% increase.

Meanwhile, average utilization hours for power generation equipment nationwide stood at 1,671 hours during the January-July stretch, down 135 hours from the same period last year.