Coal use and capacity reached an all-time high in 2023, according to a Global Energy Monitor (GEM) report. GEM is an American-based analyst of energy infrastructure.
The 2024 report titled “Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline” shows that the global coal fleet grew a record 48,4 GW in 2023 – an increase of 2% – to a total of 2 130 GW. This is despite more than half of countries reducing coal capacity or keeping coal capacity flat in line with the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the report says.
The report indicates that China drove two-thirds of coal additions. The energy industry outside of China also saw a small addition of 4,7 GW. This is the highest annual increase in coal generation since 2016. Data shows that coal use and capacity have grown by 11% since the 2015 agreement. [NS1] 113 GW of coal is under construction outside of China, a slight increase from 110 GW in 2022.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of abandoned coal power projects is piling up as international funding for coal shrinks, the report says. 54 GW of coal capacity has been cancelled since 2010, and 3,8 GW was newly cancelled in 2023 alone. Zimbabwe has the most coal capacity under consideration, at 6,5 GW, with South Africa following behind with 3 GW.
South Africa remains the largest coal-power user in the region, representing 93% of Sub-Saharan coal capacity and is the “most coal-reliant economy among the G20, with the sixth largest coal fleet in the world”, the report says. There was, however, no change in South Africa’s proposed or operating coal capacity for 2023. While South Africa does not have many coal projects in the pipeline, delays in coal plant retirement will cause South Africa to miss the 2030 carbon emissions target, analysts say.
To phase out operating coal power by 2040, an average retirement rate of 126 GW per year must be adhered to for the next 17 years – around two coal plants per week, analysts say. This excludes coal projects that are currently under development.
