China's Coal Power Paradox: Record New Proposals Amid Falling Fossil Fuel Use
BEIJING — In a striking contradiction to its green energy ambitions, China recorded its highest-ever number of proposals for new coal-fired power plants in 2025, a new report reveals. This comes even as the actual electricity generated from coal declined, displaced by a record wave of new solar and wind capacity.
The joint study from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) found that proposed new and reactivated coal projects soared to 161 gigawatts (GW). Last year alone, China commissioned 78 GW of new coal plants—the most in a decade—and began construction on a further 83 GW.
As the world's largest consumer of coal, China's recent capacity additions are staggering in scale. The report notes that the coal-power capacity China brought online in just one year rivals the total capacity India built over the preceding ten years.
Analysts point to energy security as the driving force behind this construction boom, a direct policy response to crippling power shortages that hit the country in 2021 and 2022. The government's priority is ensuring a stable energy supply, even as renewables outpace demand growth. This shift led to a notable milestone: thermal power generation fell last year for the first time in a decade.
"China is building coal capacity far faster than it is using it, pushing utilization rates down," said Christine Shearer, a GEM research analyst. "The significant risk here is the massive opportunity cost. Capital tied up in underused coal plants is investment not being directed toward building the flexible, clean power grid of the future."
However, a surge in proposals does not guarantee all projects will materialize. The report indicates that only 45 GW of permits were granted last year, the lowest since 2021. This suggests a more cautious regulatory approach, aligning with China's official goal to peak coal consumption between 2026 and 2030.
Beijing's evolving strategy appears to be redefining coal's role from a baseload workhorse to a flexible backup for intermittent renewables. Reinforcing this, the national economic planner announced plans last week to expand payments to thermal power and energy storage facilities for providing standby capacity and grid-balancing services.
Expert & Public Reaction
Dr. Aris Liang, Energy Policy Analyst at Green Horizon Think Tank: "This data reveals the inherent tension in China's energy transition. The record renewable rollout is real and transformative, but the state's instinct to overbuild coal for security creates a costly buffer. The key will be accelerating grid reform and storage to eventually retire these backup plants."
Maya Chen, Small Business Owner in Guangdong: "We lived through the rolling blackouts a few years ago—they shut down my workshop for a week. I hate the pollution, but if more power plants, even coal, mean that doesn't happen again, I understand the push. Stability comes first for people trying to make a living."
David Park, Climate Campaign Director: "This is a catastrophic failure of foresight. While the world watches glaciers melt, China is locking in decades of carbon emissions for plants that are already redundant. It's a direct sabotage of global climate goals, wrapped in empty talk about 'supporting renewables.' The capital should be flooding into storage and grid tech, not 19th-century fuel."
Professor Lena Wu, Engineering, Tsinghua University: "Technically, modern coal plants can be designed for flexibility. The real test is whether the market and regulatory mechanisms will force them to operate only as peaking units, for a few hundred hours a year, rather than baseload. Otherwise, we are simply building stranded assets."