China’s coal-dominated power generation dropped in 2025 for the first time in a decade, reflecting the country’s growing reliance on renewable energy, according to official data released Monday.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported that thermal power mostly coal with some natural gas fell by about 1% last year to 6.29 trillion kilowatt-hours. December saw a sharper decline of 3.2% compared with the same month in 2024.

The fall comes as China adds more wind, solar, and other renewable capacity, which is increasingly meeting rising electricity demand. Overall power use reached a record 10 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2025, driven by rapid growth in digital services and electric vehicle production.

Analysts say this shift is a positive step toward China’s goal of peaking carbon emissions by 2030. While coal output still hit a record high, renewables are starting to take a larger share of the energy mix, and overall power demand growth eased to 5% in 2025, down from 6.8% the previous year.

Hydropower and nuclear generation also grew, with hydropower up 2.8% for the year and nuclear rising 7.7%. Smaller-scale renewable generation is not fully captured in the official statistics, meaning the impact of clean energy may be even higher.