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Investing.com -- China commissioned 21 gigawatts (GW) of coal power plant capacity in the first half of 2025, marking the highest level since 2016, despite the country’s simultaneous record-breaking clean energy expansion.
According to a Monday report by the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), this surge represents "a delayed response to the permitting surge of 2022–2023."
The earlier permitting increase was triggered by power shortages and blackouts in 2021 and 2022, when supply disruptions and higher coal prices coincided with stricter emissions standards during China’s economic recovery from the initial pandemic phase.
The China Electricity Council projects that 80GW of coal power could be commissioned for the full year, which would make 2025 the largest year for new coal power capacity additions in a decade, the CREA report noted.
Despite the commissioning boom, new approvals of coal power projects in the first half of 2025 decreased slightly from recent years to 25GW.
"The core tension of 2025 is increasingly evident: coal’s share in power generation has fallen to record lows, yet new coal power capacity additions are on track to reach decade highs," the researchers wrote.
The report identified several factors maintaining coal power’s presence regardless of necessity, including "broad capacity payments, inflexible dispatch practices, long-term contracting, and the absence of a national retirement pathway."
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