China’s coal plant construction surged last year to the highest level in almost a decade, conflicting with President Xi Jinping’s promise that carbon emissions would peak before 2030, researchers have said.
In a report released on Thursday, the think-tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said that while China added a record 356GW of wind and solar electricity-generating capacity in 2024, it also began building coal power plants with 94.5GW of capacity, the most since 2015.
The new construction, as well as the resumption of suspended projects with another 3.3GW capacity, boosted coal’s role.
“Instead of replacing coal, clean energy is being layered on top of an entrenched reliance on fossil fuels,” said the report, which was lead authored by Qi Qin, China analyst at Helsinki-based Crea, and Christine Shearer of California-based GEM.
“Coal and clean energy are increasingly competing for space in China’s power system. In the fourth quarter of 2024, despite slowing electricity demand growth, fossil fuel generation remained high, while solar and wind utilisation dropped sharply,” the report said.