Data from the Energy Institute and Ember show that China and the EU's power systems have followed different paths over the past four decades. China's power generation in 2025 is approximately 10,600 TWh, about 26 times that of 1985. Coal-fired power still accounts for 54%, while hydropower, wind power, and solar power account for 13%, 11%, and 11%, respectively. However, clean energy is changing the power structure: in 2025, China's clean energy power generation will increase by 561 TWh, exceeding the 503 TWh increase in electricity demand during the same period, leading to a 56 TWh decrease in fossil fuel power generation. According to the emissions data used in the original post, CO2 emissions from Chinese power plants will decrease from a peak of 6.265 billion tons in 2024 to 6.108 billion tons in 2025, a decrease of approximately 2.5%.
The EU, on the other hand, has followed a different path: power generation in 2025 is approximately 2,800 TWh, roughly the same as in 2005; the share of coal-fired power will decrease from nearly 40% to 9%, while nuclear power, wind power, and natural gas will account for 23%, 17%, and 17%, respectively. The EU's carbon dioxide emissions from power plants will decrease from a peak of 1.239 billion tons in 2007 to 536 million tons in 2025, a cumulative reduction of approximately 57%. The difference between the two paths lies in the fact that China is promoting energy structure substitution while continuously expanding its power supply scale, while the EU mainly relies on adjusting its power generation structure to achieve emission reductions while maintaining a relatively stable total power generation volume over a long period.
