A “resurgence” in construction of new coal-fired power plants in China is “undermining the country’s clean-energy progress”, says a new joint report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
The country began building 94.5 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-power capacity and resumed 3.3GW of suspended projects in 2024, the highest level of construction in the past 10 years, according to the two thinktanks.
The accelerated buildout, fuelled by investment from the coal-mining sector, “raises critical concerns” about China’s ability to transition away from the fossil fuel, the report warns.
Analysts expect China’s huge clean-energy capacity additions to slowly squeeze coal’s share of electricity generation, as China works towards its “dual-carbon” goals of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060.
As things stand, rapid coal-power expansion is posing a “challenge” to China’s high-level climate commitments, including on reducing coal use, CREA and GEM argue.
They point to a range of policies that could help China get back on track, including ending new coal plant approvals, as well as power market and grid reform.
Construction fever
Construction started on 94.5GW of new coal-fired power plants in 2024, according to the study. It says this is a sign of continued momentum in developing new coal projects, despite government pledges to “strictly” control the use of the fossil fuel. The report adds that 3.3GW of suspended projects also resumed construction in 2024.
Approvals for new coal construction rebounded in the second half of the year to 66.7GW, after permitting only 9GW in the first half.
Taken altogether, the report says this signals a substantial amount of new capacity will come online in the next few years, “solidifying” coal’s place as a major source of electricity.
As shown in the chart below, China’s new or resumed construction of coal-power plants declined steadily from 84.3GW in 2015 to 32.1GW in 2021. However, it has since risen from 2022, driven by a wave of new projects.
From 2022 onwards, new and revived proposals to initiate coal-power projects also surged, reaching 146GW in 2022 and 117GW in 2023 – well above pre-pandemic levels.
However, the report notes, new proposals fell to 68.9GW in 2024, which could point to “potential cooling in project initiation”. In 2023, China accounted for 95% of the world’s new coal construction.
Meanwhile, retirement and mothballing of old coal plants remains “low”, the report says. This is particularly pronounced in recent years, with the amount of capacity being closed down each year dropping sharply from around 13GW in 2020 to 2.5GW in 2024.
All of this stands in “direct conflict” with Chinese president Xi Jinping’s pledge in 2021 to “strictly limit the increase in coal consumption” between 2021 and 2026, the report says, as well as China’s 2030 carbon-peaking action plan. It adds:
“The policy direction set in China’s updated climate targets for 2035 under the Paris Agreement and the upcoming 15th five-year plan [2026-2030] will be critical to determining the trajectory of China’s coal-power sector and with that, its emissions trajectory.”
This echoes recent analysis published by Carbon Brief.
Fuelled by industry interests
The renewed coal drive is largely being pushed by the mining industry, according to the report, with coal-mining companies increasingly investing in coal-power projects.
More than three-quarters of all newly approved coal power projects were financed by “coal mining companies or energy groups with coal-mining operations”, the study says.
It suggests this may be partly driven by China’s “dual-carbon” goals, which have pushed those companies to diversify in order to “secure stable demand for their output through 2030 and beyond”.
These investments include integrated coal mine-to-power and “pithead” plants, as well as typical coal-fired power plants developed by energy groups with coal-mining operations.
The report notes that many regional coal and energy companies have “intensified” coal-power investments, “aligning their strategies to sustain coal’s dominance at the provincial level”.
It adds that major coal-producing provinces – such as Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Gansu – were also commissioning and building the most new coal power, as shown in the map below. However, China’s biggest coal-producing province, Shanxi, was not among the provinces with the most activity around new coal power in 2024.
‘Undermining’ the energy transition
The rapid buildout of coal could combine with structural features of the power system that favour the coal industry, the report says, to limit renewables’ ability to become China’s main provider of electricity.
China installed record amounts of renewable energy capacity in 2024, bringing total solar and wind capacity up to 890GW and 520GW, respectively. Coal capacity in 2024 was 1,200GW.
The growing amount of low-carbon electricity in China’s mix was expected to cover new demand and reduce coal’s importance in the system, in a policy known as “establish [new systems] before breaking [old ones]” (先立后破).
However, the report notes, the flurry of new coal construction “makes it increasingly difficult to achieve” this. Instead, it says there is a risk that renewable energy will be treated as a supplementary power source “layered on top” of coal.
This is partly due to several policy structures that prioritise the use of coal power and protect the industry’s interests, it explains.
Most power grids lock in coal-power supply through mechanisms such as medium- to long-term contracts for purchasing power and long-term coal supply agreements, obligating provinces to use a certain amount of the fuel, even when other sources of electricity are more cost-effective.
Provincial governments are also moving away from requiring power purchase agreements (PPAs) to include a minimum share of solar and wind, the report says, resulting in “an uneven playing field where coal power remains insulated from risk while wind and solar developers face price fluctuations and uncertain demand”.
The development of new coal-power plants will “further limit grid space for renewables”, it adds, making it harder for solar and wind power generators to gain significant market share.
Coal’s predominance in the system may have also led to a substantial recent uptick in curtailment of renewable energy. According to calculations in the report, the final quarter of 2024 likely saw a curtailment rate of around 5.5%, rather than the officially reported 3.2%.
The report attributes this to “structural constraints”, rather than weather-driven availability of solar and wind resources.
Opportunity for change in 2025
Forecasts by the coal industry signal that it expects the coal-power sector to continue growing, causing “increasingly unsustainable conflict” between China’s energy security and low-carbon policies, the report notes.
The report suggests strong policy direction in 2025 would be needed to counteract coal’s dominance in the energy system.
This could be achieved, firstly, by reducing the amount of coal in the energy system, such as by setting “ambitious and measurable” targets for reducing coal consumption, phasing down coal plants, utilisation of coal plants in operation and uptake of renewables.
Other potential levers could include ending new coal-power plant approvals and accelerating the retirement of older units.
Secondly, the report points to reform of the mechanisms that steer power providers towards coal – including reducing the amount of coal covered in long-term PPAs and coal supply agreements – and prioritising grid reform and the development of spot markets.
These steps, it argues, would “help implement China’s ambition to phase down coal, create space for renewables, and drive a cleaner, more efficient energy system”.
The post China’s construction of new coal-power plants ‘reached 10-year high’ in 2024 appeared first on Carbon Brief.
China’s construction of new coal-power plants ‘reached 10-year high’ in 2024
Saturday, 17 October 2026
7.18 AM AWST
Hi folks! We’re joining you live from the Rainbow Warrior where we will be providing you with updates as our four activists continue scaling and occupying Woodside’s gas platform. The activists are peacefully protesting against Woodside’s latest gas expansion plans, the Browse project, which would see up to 57 toxic wells drilled at Scott Reef.
“Right now our activists are scaling Woodside’s massive Floating Production Unit. They are scaling the South-East pillar and the underside of the Helideck. They’ll be setting up camp soon and have plenty of provisions with them – so stick around!”
5:45 AM AWST
Our RHIBS are in the water! We’ve deployed our four activists and our ship crew on our small fast boats, headed to the gas platform. We’re carrying crew and equipment, plenty of food, all of our safety climbing gear, some big banners, cameras and a whole lot of heart… someone even has something to read after they get settled in.
5:26 AM AWST
Before sunrise activists prepared to launch RHIBS from the Rainbow Warrior.
Looking for a front seat view?
You can follow along with the Live Rainbow Warrior bow cam here!
Looking for more?
Follow us on Instagram for a peek behind the scenes and hear from our Rainbow Warrior crew.
Live blog: Greenpeace activists occupy Woodside gas project to save Scott Reef
Climate Change
Greenpeace activists climb and occupy Woodside’s Scarborough gas project calling on the Australian government to “Stop Woodside’s Dirty Gas” and “Save Scott Reef”
PERTH, Saturday 17 October 2026 — Four Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists are scaling and occupying a Floating Production Unit at Woodside’s Scarborough gas project off the coast of Western Australia, displaying banners reading: “Stop Woodside’s Dirty Gas. Save Scott Reef.”
- Photos and video available here and here. More will be uploaded throughout the day.
- Content and live updates will be uploaded to a live blog and to Instagram
Early this morning at 05:45 AWST, Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists launched from the Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace’s flagship vessel, scaling and attaching themselves to a Floating Production Unit (FPU), a key piece of gas processing infrastructure at the Scarborough gas field over 200km off the coast of Exmouth.
Woodside has since confirmed it has initiated a temporary shut down of the FPU.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific is occupying the gas platform in peaceful protest of Woodside’s plans to drill for oil and gas at Scott Reef as part of its Browse proposal.
David Ritter, CEO at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “Greenpeace Australia Pacific is taking action today to expose the unacceptable risk to Scott Reef posed by Woodside’s plans.
“Australians love our oceans. Woodside’s reckless Browse gas proposal would turn the magnificent Scott Reef into an industrial gas zone. Woodside wants to drill up to 57 toxic wells around Scott Reef, Australia’s largest oceanic reef, home to nesting green sea turtles, and endangered species like pygmy blue whales and the dusky sea snake; it is a place like nowhere else on Earth.
“Woodside has an alarming track record of oil spills, incidents and environmental neglect, and can’t be trusted with our oceans. From whaling in Albany in the seventies, to Woodside’s threat to Scott Reef today, there’s more than fifty years of history, of Greenpeace taking action off WA’s coasts to protect our oceans.
“There’s no future in new gas projects. Our future is in secure homegrown renewable energy, green industry and exports, where communities and places like Scott Reef are protected — there’s no future in dirty gas shipped offshore.
“The prospect of drilling for oil or gas on the Great Barrier Reef would be considered absolute madness today, but that is exactly the decision before the government: save Scott Reef or risk its destruction at the hands of a gas corporation.”
From aboard the Floating Production Unit, Dr Chris Holden, Greenpeace Australia Pacific activist said: “As a doctor, when I see new fossil fuel projects like Woodside’s Browse project being put forward, I can’t help but think about the impact this is going to have on the health of our communities and planet, and feel a sense of duty to act.
“Not only will this project do irrevocable harm to nature at Scott Reef, it will have a terrible impact on our climate, putting all of our lives at risk.
“On the Rainbow Warrior I’m carrying a copy of the 2025 Lancet countdown report, which warns that health impacts of climate change are worsening, with millions dying needlessly each year due to fossil fuel dependence, growing emissions, and failure to adequately adapt.
“With warnings like this from the leading global health professionals, our government simply can’t allow fossil fuel projects like Woodside’s Browse project to go ahead. It is their duty to do what is in the best interest of our communities.”
Almost half a million people have signed a petition calling on the government to Save Scott Reef and Woodside’s Browse gas project.
-ENDS-
Notes:
- Dial-in, SimSat and Zoom interviews with Geoff Bice, WA Campaign Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, currently aboard the Rainbow Warrior, can be organised separately
Media contact:
Greenpeace Australia Pacific media team on +61 406 231 892 or +61 407 581 404
The board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) will decide on Thursday on whether to “provisionally set aside” $20 million for Nepal to deal with some of the effects of the climate-driven flood it suffered in August.
The motion, seen by Climate Home News, has been drafted by a group of board members from both developed and developing countries and so is likely to pass easily at the fund’s first-ever extraordinary board meeting on October 22.
It invites the government of Nepal to submit a proposal for how to use the money, with the board then deciding at one of its regular board meetings whether to approve the proposal or not.
While Nepali officials have described $20 million as merely “symbolic” in the face of the $4.8 billion estimated costs of recovery and reconstruction, it would be the first time the new FRLD – agreed in 2022 months after devastating floods in Pakistan – has set aside money for a specific disaster.
Until now the fund has only taken requests through a single call for proposals, launched at COP30 in Belém last November, that gave countries six months to submit requests.
Most of the 180 projects the FRLD is currently considering are designed to help countries avoid damage from future climate disasters, for example by strengthening responses to floods in Bangladesh and Lagos.
The draft decision says Nepal’s proposal will serve as a pilot for how funding requests can be submitted outside of the fund’s current timetable. That could let governments seek funds quickly after a climate disaster strikes, rather than waiting for the next call.
This arrangement would set the fund apart from other United Nations funds designed for climate adaptation or cutting emissions like the Green Climate Fund.
Climate campaigners from Fill the Fund said the draft decision is “a real step forward” as it is “the first time this Fund has moved to respond to a specific disaster”.
Too little, too late
The FRLD was agreed by governments at COP27, set up and operationalised at COP28 in 2023 but has yet to award any money. The 180 funding requests it is currently considering would cost around $2.8 billion, but it only has $350 million to allocate.
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has described the amount of money available in the fund as “ridiculously small” and Fill the Fund said $20 million “is a meaningful signal but it is a drop against an ocean of need”.
A glacial rock and ice collapse sent a torrent of water and debris through Nepal and the Chinese-administered region of Tibet on August 26. It killed more than 1,400 people, left thousands more missing and destroyed homes, bridges, roads and hydropower plants. Nepal’s finance and environment ministers quickly appealed to the FRLD board for funds, saying that “time is of the essence”.
Their call was followed swiftly by a letter from developing country FRLD board members urging the board’s co-chairs to organise an extraordinary meeting to allocate funds to Nepal.
But developed countries initially called for an informal consultation rather than a full board meeting. It took a further 45 days for the board’s co-chairs to organise an extraordinary board meeting for October 22 and to draft a motion for adoption.
Fill the Fund called for a permanent way of the fund rapid responding to disasters as “Nepal should not have required historic letters, an informal drafting group and the Fund’s first-ever extraordinary meeting simply to unlock an emergency response. The next country cannot wait two months and a bureaucratic marathon. Speed must be built in, not improvised.”
The post UN’s loss and damage fund set to give Nepal $20m for flood recovery appeared first on Climate Home News.
UN’s loss and damage fund set to give Nepal $20m for flood recovery
Is a Team of Is a Bunch of MAGA Thugs Beating the Snot Out of a Woman a New Low, or Is it What We Now Need to Expect?
