China’s Coal Power Construction Is at a Decade-High Despite Renewables Boom

Despite soaring solar and wind power installations, China launched construction of as many as 94.5 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power projects in 2024, the highest level since 2015, new research showed on Thursday.

China also approved 66.7 GW of new coal-fired power capacity in 2024, as approvals picked up in the second half after a slower start to the year, found the report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM).

Apart from the new coal power construction starts, China last year resumed construction of 3.3 GW of suspended projects.

All these approvals and construction start to signal that “a substantial number of new plants will come online in the next 2-3 years, further solidifying coal’s role in the power system,” the report says.

China added 356 GW of wind and solar capacity in 2024 alone – 4.5 times the EU’s additions and nearly equivalent to the total installed wind and solar capacity in the U.S. by the end of the year, according to the research.

“This record-breaking expansion highlights China’s leadership in renewables, yet instead of replacing coal, clean energy is being layered on top of an entrenched reliance on fossil fuels,” CREA said.

Despite a pledge to phase down coal by the end of the decade, China continues to be committed to coal power, which overshadows clean energy progress and exposes fundamental challenges in China’s energy transition, the authors of the report wrote.

Globally, China is the leader in renewable energy capacity installations, but it is also a leader in coal-fired power and continues to be the key driver of record-high global coal demand.

The persistent growth in Chinese coal demand, including for power generation, goes to show that coal remains the baseload of China’s power system to back up the surge in renewables and will stay such for years to come as power demand jumps with the increasing electrification of homes and transport.  

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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