Climate change: China drives increase in global coal-fired power capacity amid building boom, slow retirement, study says
- China accounted for two-thirds of the coal-burning power capacity that came online last year, according to Global Energy Monitor
- China’s surge in coal-power development ‘starkly contrasts with the global trend, putting China’s 2025 climate targets at risk’, analyst says
China drove a global surge in new coal-fired power plants last year, building and approving capacity at a rate not seen in nine years despite the country’s promise to “strictly control” its use of the most damaging fossil fuel, according to a new report.
Despite retiring 21.1GW of coal capacity in 2023, the world’s net annual capacity increased by 2 per cent or 48.4GW due to China slowing down its coal plant retirement and adding new capacity, GEM said.
“The recent surge in coal-power development in China starkly contrasts with the global trend, putting China’s 2025 climate targets at risk,” said Qin Qi, China analyst of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, which jointly published the report.
China also started construction of an additional 70.2GW of new coal-power capacity in 2023, which accounts for 95 per cent of the construction started worldwide and represents the country’s fastest pace of groundbreaking since 2015, according to GEM. Most Chinese provinces saw new coal proposals and developments, and very few saw retirements, the study found.
“At this pivotal juncture, it is crucial for China to impose stricter controls on coal-power projects and expedite the transition towards renewable energy to realign with its climate commitments,” Qin said.