FILE PHOTO: A worker inspects solar panels at a solar farm in Dunhuang, 950km (590 miles) northwest of Lanzhou, Gansu Province September 16, 2013. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria 

From January to September, the curtailment for wind power across China dropped 6.7 percentage points from the same period last year to 12 percent, while wasted solar power fell 3.8 percentage points from a year ago to 5.6 percent, the data showed on Tuesday.

Despite some improvement, the amount of electricity that failed to connect to the grid remains significant in the western parts of the country, with almost a quarter of solar and a third of wind power lost in Gansu province.

The government has set targets for renewable power that should reach the grid to resolve the problem of energy going to waste, one of the country’s biggest challenges in its clean energy campaign.

Last month, the NEA said it hopes to solve the issue by 2020.

Installed renewable power capacity reached 630 gigawatts (GW) by the end of September, with hydropower capacity at 339 GW, wind power at 157 GW, solar power at 120 GW and biomass energy at 14.23 GW, the NEA data showed.

China produced 1.17 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity from renewable energy, accounting for 25 percent of its power mix in the first three quarters.

Last month, the NEA said it hopes to solve the issue by 2020.