World Report: Over 50 nations noticeably reduced coal power station construction intentions since 2015

In a significant shift towards a more sustainable future, several major coal-reliant economies are reducing their plans for new coal power plants. This trend, which has seen a decrease of around 80% in planned capacity compared to a decade ago, includes Turkey, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, and South Africa.

Indonesia, the fifth-biggest coal user, has reduced its coal proposals by 90%, while South Africa, the seventh-biggest, has cut its planned capacity by 83%. This global movement away from coal is reflected in the fact that only nine countries have increased their planned capacity, with around 85% of the increase coming from Russia and its central Asian neighbours.

This shift is not limited to these countries. China and India, the world's largest and second-largest coal consumers respectively, have both reduced their planned coal capacity by more than 60% over the same timeframe. India's proposed coal capacity has dropped by more than 60% over the past decade, reaching 81GW.

However, it's important to note that China and India still have a significant number of coal projects in the pipeline. Together, they made up 92% of newly proposed coal capacity globally in 2024. The world's biggest coal users, including Turkey, Vietnam, and Japan, are making cuts of 98% or more to their coal-power pipeline.

The Paris Agreement in 2015 had major implications for the use of fossil fuels. Since then, 35 nations have eliminated coal from their plans entirely, including South Korea and Germany. In 2024, China and India contributed 70% of the global coal-plant construction.

Despite these reductions, global coal-fired electricity generation has increased since 2015. This increase is largely due to the continued construction of coal plants in countries like China and India. Last year, China added 30.5GW of coal power to the global fleet, while retiring just 2.5GW. India added 5.8GW of coal power, while retiring 0.2GW.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) both see steep declines in "unabated" coal use by 2030 as essential to limit global warming to 1.5°C. This underscores the need for a continued global effort to reduce reliance on coal.

The slowdown in China's new coal proposals is attributed to its record-breaking solar and wind growth. India's notable declines in coal proposals and commissions came after a coal-plant investment bubble that went bust in the early 2010s.

The number of countries still planning new coal plants has roughly halved to 33. Many of these nations are either very small or only had modest ambitions for building coal power in the first place.

In contrast, India is now encouraging and fast-tracking the development of large coal plants to meet its growing electricity demand, especially during heatwaves. The proposed capacity of those planned plants has dropped by around two-thirds.

This transition away from coal is a promising step towards a more sustainable future. As more countries move towards renewable energy sources, we can hope for a future with less reliance on fossil fuels and a healthier planet.

World Report: Over 50 nations noticeably reduced coal power station construction intentions since 2015