China and India Are Holding Up Global Shift From Coal Power: GEM

China and India’s coal-power boom is undermining the world’s shift from the heavily polluting source of electricity, according to a new report from Global Energy Monitor.

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Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

Published Apr 02, 2025  •  3 minute read

hc}s9e370u{0b5b)a[q)j4c6_media_dl_1.png Global Energy Monitor

(Bloomberg) — China and India’s coal-power boom is undermining the world’s shift from the heavily polluting source of electricity, according to a new report from Global Energy Monitor.

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The world outside China shrunk its coal fleet by 9.2 gigawatts last year, retiring more plants than it commissioned, including shutting the very last generator in the UK. Even including China, new plants totaled only 44 gigawatts, the lowest level in 20 years, researchers said in the report published Thursday.

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But the slowdown may just be the calm before the storm. China last year started construction on 94 gigawatts of coal plants, the most in data back to 2015. And India saw proposals for new plants jump to a record 38 gigawatts, the researchers said. 

“If not curtailed, the wave of new coal plants could undo President Xi’s pledge to strictly limit the growth in coal consumption through 2025,” the report said. 

Coal, which emits more carbon dioxide than oil or gas when burned, has proven far more resilient than many expected when most of the world’s nations agreed in Paris in 2015 to cut emissions and limit the impacts of climate change. Amid rising global demand for electricity, coal consumption hit a new peak last year, and the International Energy Agency has revised its coal demand outlook higher in its last four annual reports.

Driving that are China and India, which combine to consume more than two-thirds of the world’s coal. The two countries accounted for 92% of all newly proposed plants last year, according to GEM.

Retirements of old coal plants picked up in Europe, led by Germany. But they’ve slowed in the US, where several utilities have delayed or withdrawn their plans as the boom in data centers to feed artificial intelligence cause surprising increases in electricity demand. 

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“Work is still needed to ensure coal power is phased out in line with the Paris climate agreement, particularly in the world’s wealthiest nations,” Christine Shearer, a project manager at GEM, said in a written statement. 

China’s companies also continue to fund coal power developments beyond its borders, despite President Xi Jinping’s vow in 2021 to halt overseas financing. Newly proposed coal plants in Africa rose for the third year in a row, with all 2.8 gigawatts of capacity backed by Chinese or Indian companies, according to the report. 

Just last week, equipment manufacturer China Western Power Industrial Co. announced it had signed a $1.4 billion deal to help build the 1.8 gigawatt Xekong thermal power plant in Laos. While the filing didn’t specify the fuel to be used, GEM has said its research on the plant indicates it will be coal-fired. Representatives of China Western and Xekong Thermal Power Plant Co. didn’t respond to requests for comment.

On the Wire

The US has hit China with the biggest-ever tariff hike on almost all Chinese products, bringing total levies to at least 54%, a move that could decimate Chinese shipments to the world’s largest economy.

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China has taken steps to restrict local companies from investing in the US, according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that could give Beijing more leverage for potential trade negotiations with the Trump administration.

China raised 6 billion yuan ($826 million) in its first-ever green sovereign bond sale, highlighting the country’s ambitions to bolster its environmental credentials to investors.

Shipping companies have all-but stopped buying dry bulk commodity carriers that were built in China as the industry waits to see if President Trump will press ahead with historic port charges on vessels constructed in the Asian country.

This Week’s Diary

(All times Beijing unless noted.)

Thursday, April 3:

• Caixin’s China services & composite PMIs for March, 09:45
• China’s weekly iron ore port stockpiles
• Shanghai exchange weekly commodities inventory, ~15:30
• CSIA’s weekly solar wafer price assessment

Friday, April 4:

• Holiday in China and Hong Kong

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