New Coal Capacity Hit 20-Year Low In 2024, But Plant Retirements Stalled In US: Report

Last Updated:April 03, 2025, 18:44 IST

The US—the world’s biggest historical polluter—retired only 4.7 GW of coal power capacity, the lowest level of coal plant closures in a year since the 2015 Paris Agreement

While India has committed to phasing down coal use, it has not set a formal timeline to begin it. Representational image

In 2024, the world saw the smallest increase in new coal power capacity online in as many as 20 years, totalling 44 GW—marking an encouraging trend for the world’s transition away from polluting fossil fuels. The total capacity commissioned was nearly 30 GW below the 2004-2024 annual average of 72 GW.

According to Global Energy Monitor, which has been tracking nearly every coal plant and proposal across the world through its Global Coal Plant Tracker, the net increase in global coal capacity was 18.8 GW as 25.2 GW of old capacity also retired last year.

The European Union (EU27) led the most coal plant retirements, reporting a fourfold increase, with Germany leading the charts. The United Kingdom (UK) shut down its last coal plant, becoming the sixth country in the world to phase out coal power entirely since the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Trump backs fossil fuels

However, the US—the world’s biggest historical polluter—retired just 4.7 GW of coal power capacity last year, the lowest since the 2015 Paris Agreement. While nearly half of its remaining coal power capacity is planned to retire by 2035, the report noted that some big utilities are trying to further prolong the operating lives of their coal plants—bolstered by President Donald Trump’s vociferous policy support for fossil fuels.

The US operates a coal fleet totalling 194.1 GW of capacity, the third largest in the world behind China and India, and it seems to be resisting the shuttering of its existing coal fleet under Trump, noted experts. The average global retirement age of coal plants is 37 years.

‘Wealthier countries need to do more’

The report, which also included authors from several other organisations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), pointed out that wealthier countries must lead the transition away from fossil fuels as committed to at COP28 in Dubai. While the 38 countries comprising the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are moving away from new coal plants, the pace needs to triple—from 19 GW in 2024 to 70 GW annually through 2030.

“2024 was a harbinger of things to come for coal, as the clean energy transition moves full speed ahead. But work is still needed to ensure coal power is phased out in line with the Paris Agreement, particularly in the world’s wealthiest nations," said Christine Shearer, project manager, GEM’s Global Coal Plant Tracker.

Rising demand pushes new coal plants in India

At 94 GW, China started record-high construction for coal plants last year since 2015, even though new coal proposals dwindled in Southeast Asia and everywhere outside of China. India too saw new coal plant proposals totalling 38 GW in 2024 as the government renewed the country’s support for coal power after a multi-year slowdown.

While India has committed to phasing down coal use, it has not set a formal timeline to begin it. At present, it remains hugely dependent on coal-based power generation to meet the country’s surging energy demand. While it is steadily increasing renewable power (28.6 GW RE capacity added in 2024), coal still provides more than 70% of the total power generation.

The government had recently told Parliament that the coal sector will remain a crucial source of energy in India for providing affordable and reliable electricity to its billion-plus population. “As the percentage contribution of renewables in the nation’s primary energy mix rises, the share of coal will decrease; however, it will increase on an absolute tonnage basis," it stated, highlighting the rising demand not just from economic growth but also cooling demand due to climate change-fuelled heatwaves.

The utilities have also been encouraged by the government to keep their coal plants operating until 2030. However, the major concern remains that the government has continued to extend the deadlines for polluting thermal power plants to meet the emission standards for sulphur dioxide (SO2) notified in 2015 and install pollution control equipment. The latest extension is for 2027, the authors noted in GEM’s tenth assessment report—Boom and Bust Coal.

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