Private firms have helped the top-polluting nation become the world’s largest generator of clean energy. Now, as China chases a target to zero out carbon emissions by 2060, and with subsidies for renewables investments ending, government-controlled utilities need to take the lead.

The five biggest state-backed power firms have announced plans to develop about 305 gigawatts of new wind and solar capacity in the next five years, according to BloombergNEF, almost twice the amount it estimates the US will install over the same period. At peak generation, the total being added would be about enough to power the whole of Japan.