The 180 GW will be about 5% of total capacity in 2035. China will nearly double total energy generation by 2035.

If China reaches 180 GW of nuclear capacity in 2035 then this will be about double the nuclear capacity in the USA. China used 7510 terawatt-hours of power in 2020 up 3.1% from 2019. China usage of electrical power is over the combined usage of the USA (4200 TWH) and Europe (2500 TWH) in 2020. China expects to add 180 gigawatts (GW) of new power generation capacity in 2021 to push the country's total capacity to 2,370 GW, up 7.7% from a year ago. Total installed non-fossil fuel capacity is forecast to reach 1,120 GW by the end of 2021, with about 140 GW being added this year, accounting for 47.3% of China's energy mix. China will add 1,200 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2030.

In January, the China National Nuclear Corporation began commercial operations at its first Hualong One reactor. This reactor design is the first developed in China. The plan is for six to eight new nuclear units per year in order to take advantage of economies of scale.

Luo Qi, a member of China's Atomic Energy Research Initiative, wrote: "By 2035, nuclear plants in operation should reach around 180GW, amounting to 5% of total capacity."

In 2020, China built 38.4GW of coal-fired generation. At the same time, it started the decommissioning of 8.6GW, leaving a net gain of 29.8GW. In the same year, the country's power demand increased by 3%, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

China plans 60% non-coal generation by 2025 and no more than 10% of its power from gas.