China's installed wind and solar capacity is expected to overtake coal for the first time this year, according to industry forecasts.

The China Electricity Council (CEC), an industry association, forecast in a yearly report on Tuesday that grid-connected wind and solar would make up around 40% of installed power generation capacity by the end of 2024, compared with coal's expected 37%.

By comparison, wind and solar together were around 36% of capacity at the end of 2023, and coal was just under 40%.

China will have built around 1,300 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar capacity by the end of 2024, the CEC expects, meaning it will have already exceeded its official target of 1,200 GW by 2030.

The CEC sees electricity consumption growing by 6% this year, down just slightly from 2023's 6.7% growth rate, when demand was recovering from a low base following the pandemic. (Reporting by Colleen Howe Editing by Mark Potter)