• For the first time in its history, China has more wind and solar power capacity than fossil fuel-based thermal power, the country’s energy regulatory said on Friday.
• While renewables now account for more than half of China’s installed electricity capacity, they still delivered just 22.5% of actual power consumption in Q1.
• In places like Gansu and Inner Mongolia, wind and solar farms are producing power that the grid can’t absorb.

For the first time in its history, China has more wind and solar power capacity than fossil fuel-based thermal power, the country’s energy regulatory said on Friday. The country’s renewable fleet hit 1,482 gigawatts at the end of March, crossing a symbolic threshold that makes for great headlines—but less great power reliability.

Because here’s the catch: while renewables now account for more than half of China’s installed electricity capacity, they still delivered