Investments in coal power in China continue to grow despite renewable energy development

Despite climate policies, global investment in coal power is still expected to grow. According to announced plans, most of it will take place in China. At the same time, many factors suggest that the country’s continued development of renewable energy and the decline in extreme fossil fuel prices do not necessarily mean China will move away from coal in the coming decades.

According to research published by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM), construction of 106 gigawatts of new coal-fired power plants was approved in China in 2022. That is four times as much as in 2021 and the highest level since 2015.

"Everyone else is moving away from coal, but China seems to be stepping on the gas. We have seen six times more power plants beginning construction in China than in the rest of the world combined. And that is despite the fact that much of the world is moving away from coal,"said Flora Champenois, a coal research analyst at Global Energy Monitor and one of the report’s co-authors.