The new installed capacity of hydropower and thermal power in China decreased year on year. From January to May, China added 33.88 million kilowatts of power production capacity (officially put into operation), 1.86 million kilowatts less than the same period last year, down 5.22% year-on-year. Hydropower generated 1.48 million kw, 2.98 million KW less than that of the same period last year, down 66.9% year-on-year; Thermal power of 9.8 million kw, 3.5 million KW less than that of the same period last year, down 26.3% year-on-year; Nuclear power increased by 1.13 million kilowatts, 40,000 kilowatts more than in the same period last year. Wind power of 6.3 million kilowatts, 1.08 million kilowatts more than the same period last year, a year-on-year growth of 20.7%; Solar power generation reached 15.18 million kilowatts, 3.49 million kilowatts more than the same period last year, up 29.9% year on year.
FIG. 1 New installed capacity by type in China from January to the end of May 2018
From January to May, the installed capacity of nuclear power, wind power and solar energy all increased. Hydropower accounted for 4.4% of the total installed capacity, down 8.1 percentage points from a year earlier. The installed capacity of new thermal power plants reached 28.9%, 8.3 percentage points lower than that of the same period last year. New nuclear power installations accounted for 3.3%, an increase of 0.29 percentage points over the same period last year. New wind power accounted for 18.6%, up 3.99 percentage points from the same period last year. Solar power installations accounted for 44.8 percent, up 12.1 percentage points from a year earlier.
FIG. 2 Proportion of new installed capacity in China by the end of May 2018
From January to May 2018, China's newly installed power stations were mainly in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan, Anhui and Hebei (all over 2.3 million kw), accounting for 56.6 percent of the total. Solar power generation is the main type of new installed capacity, accounting for 44.8% of the total installed capacity. The new installed capacity of solar power generation is mainly distributed in Shandong, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan and other provinces (over 1.5 million kw of new installed capacity). The newly installed thermal power capacity accounts for 28.9% of the total installed capacity, which is mainly distributed in Zhejiang, Anhui, Shanghai, Henan, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, Liaoning and other provinces (the total installed thermal power capacity projects are over 700,000 kw). The new installed capacity of wind power accounted for 18.6%, mainly concentrated in Jiangsu, Qinghai, Henan, Shanxi, Ningxia and other provinces (the total installed capacity of projects is over 500,000 kw). The newly installed hydropower capacity accounted for 4.4%, mainly in Sichuan, Guangdong, Gansu, Hainan and other provinces (the total installed capacity of the project is 34, 30, 26, 200,000 kw respectively).
FIG. 3 New installed capacity types in each province from January to May 2018
