A new report from Global Energy Monitor highlights a striking contradiction at the heart of the global energy transition in 2025: while coal power capacity continued to rise around the world, the actual use of coal for electricity generation declined. The findings, published in the eleventh edition of the Boom and Bust 2026 assessment of the global coal fleet, show that global coal capacity grew by 3.5% last year even as coal-fired generation fell by 0.6%.

According to the report, this widening gap between new coal infrastructure and falling coal output was especially visible in China and India. Both countries saw record additions of wind and solar power, which met most of the year’s new electricity demand and pushed coal down the merit order—even as coal plant commissioning reached its highest level in a decade.

Analysts say this pattern reflects a structural shift in the way coal is used globally, suggesting that the transition away from the most polluting fossil fuel is becoming more resilient to short-term geopolitical or market disruptions, including the ongoing tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.The report also underscores how coal development is becoming increasingly concentrated. Only 32 countries were still proposing or building new coal plants in 2025, compared with 38 the previous year and less than half of the 75 countries active in coal development in 2014.

Today, 95% of global coal power construction occurs in China and India, while Latin America reached “No New Coal” status in 2025 and South Korea announced a full phaseout, reaffirming the growing list of nations formally exiting coal.Reflecting on the trends, Christine Shearer, Project Manager of Global Energy Monitor’s Global Coal Plant Tracker, said the year encapsulated a turning point: “In 2025, the world built more coal and used it less. Development has grown more concentrated too—95% of coal plant construction is now in China and India, and even they are building solar and wind fast enough to displace it.

The central challenge heading into 2026 is not the availability of alternatives, but the persistence of policies that treat coal as necessary even as power systems move increasingly beyond it.”The report details a series of developments shaping the global trajectory of coal. Despite the decline in generation, capacity growth continued, reinforcing the mismatch between new construction and actual coal use.

China saw its coal capacity expand by 6% while its coal-fired generation fell by 1.2%. India recorded a similar trend: although capacity grew by 3.8%, coal generation dropped by 2.9%. In both countries, fast-growing renewable energy capacity was instrumental in meeting rising electricity demand, reducing the need for coal even as new plants were added.China experienced a particularly sharp surge, with new and reactivated coal projects reaching 161.7 GW in 2025—the highest level ever recorded. The country now has more than 500 GW of coal capacity under development.

If these projects proceed, they would lock China into continued coal expansion well into the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), despite its policy commitment to reduce coal consumption during those years.India, meanwhile, recorded 27.9 GW of new and revived coal proposals and now has 107.3 GW in pre-construction planning and 23.5 GW under construction. The Indian government aims to add 100 GW of new coal capacity over the next seven years.

Yet, 2025 also marked a milestone: for the first time, non-fossil sources exceeded half of the nation’s total installed power capacity, driven by historic additions of solar and wind.Globally, coal plant retirements lagged significantly. Nearly 70% of units scheduled to retire did not do so, including 69% in the European Union and 59% in the United States. In the EU, many postponements stem from delays that began during the 2022–23 energy crisis, although formal phaseout plans remain intact.

In the U.S., retirement deferrals were often the result of direct government intervention mandating that aging coal plants remain online.Outside China and India, new coal construction dropped to its lowest level ever—just 5% of global activity. In Indonesia, the coal fleet expanded by 7% in 2025, partly due to captive coal plants supporting nickel and aluminum processing. Indonesia also ranked third in new proposals worldwide, with 11 GW planned. Türkiye, meanwhile, reduced its pipeline to just one active proposal ahead of hosting COP31, a dramatic decline from the more than 70 projects under consideration in 2015.

The report notes that coal-reliant regions in South Asia continue to face challenges. Pakistan’s rapid adoption of distributed solar has helped cushion the impacts of volatile global fossil fuel markets, whereas Bangladesh has struggled with technical and supply issues in its thermal power fleet while making limited progress in renewable deployment.

In Southeast Asia (excluding Indonesia), coal commissioning declined for the third consecutive year, though some countries have leaned more heavily on existing coal plants following emerging gas supply disruptions in 2026. In Africa, coal proposals remained concentrated in Zimbabwe and Zambia, which together represented two-thirds of new coal development across the continent.

The report was jointly produced by several environmental and research organizations alongside Global Energy Monitor, including the Africa Just Transition Network, ARAYARA International Institute, Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development, CEE Bankwatch Network, Beyond Fossil Fuels, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, Chile Sustentable, Climate Action Network Europe, Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network, Dhoritri Rokhhay Amra, E3G, Institute of Lawyers for the Protection of the Environment, Kiko Network, POLEN Transiciones Justas, Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development, Razom We Stand, Reclaim Finance, Solutions for Our Climate, Trend Asia, and Waterkeepers Bangladesh.

Overall, the report paints a mixed but increasingly clear picture: while some countries continue to expand coal capacity, the global system is steadily using less coal—driven not by supply constraints, but by the accelerating competitiveness and reliability of clean energy alternatives.

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