The Wudongde Hydropower Station is under construction between Luquan County in Yunnan and Huidong County in Sichuan, southwest China on May 30, 2019. (Xinhua)

Green energy development is speeding up in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The output value of green energy such as hydropower, wind power and solar energy is estimated to replace the tobacco industry to become the biggest pillar industry in Yunnan, according to an ongoing international expo held in the capital city of Kunming.

Yunnan has rich green energy resources. For instance, the province has a reserve of 104 million kilowatts of hydropower, with more than 62 million kilowatts of installed capacity, the second biggest in the country. It is also rich in other renewable energy such as wind power and biomass.

In the first five months of this year, the added value of the tobacco industry grew 5.2 percent year on year, but the added value of electricity, heating, gas and water production and supply increased 16.6 percent year on year. By 2020, the added value of the energy industry is expected to top 140 billion yuan (20 billion U.S. dollars).