China's demand for cheap power from coal-fired stations accounted for 53% of the world's total coal-fired output in 2020 - or a 9% increase from 2015. More plants are coming online over the next few years, according to an international study.
China put 38.4 gigawatts of new coal-fired power capacity into operation in 2020, which is more than three times the capacity built anywhere else. Its coal-fired generation rose by 1.7% or 77 terawatt hours. This jump brought China's share of total world coal power to 53% up from 44% in 2015.
In addition, China approved the construction of 36.9 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity in 2020, bringing the total under construction to 88.1 gigawatts. It now has 247 gigawatts of coal power under development.
China was the only Group of 20 country that saw a significant jump in coal fired power generation in 2020. The rise in coal reliance is in contrast to its promises to become carbon neutral by 2060 and also undermines its short term climate goals, according to Ember Climate in the latest edition of its Global Electricity Review.
London based Ember is an independent climate and energy research group concentrating on accelerating a transition from coal to clean energy.
"China is like a big ship, and it takes time to turn in another direction," according to Muyi Yang, a senior analyst with Ember and one of the review's authors.
China has, however, reduced the share of coal in its total energy consumption from 70% a decade ago to 56.8% in 2020. Absolute generation volumes, however, still rose 19% over the 2016-2020 period, Ember said.
China added a record 71.7 GW of wind power and 48.2 GW of solar in 2020. China promises to "rationally control the scale and pace of development in the construction of coal-fired power," in its 2021-2025 five-year plan.
"I think there will be a cap on coal consumption, and that will have a major impact on the future trajectory for coal power," Yang said.
By comparison, coal generation in the rest of the world fell by 12% - meaning China's share of global coal generation rose to 53%. Ember said China's coal intensive recovery will make it hard to reduce coal use despite.
