Grandeur et Décadence 2025

The report 'Grandeur et Décadence 2025' by Global Energy Monitor and its partners analyzes the state of global coal-fired power plants in 2024. It highlights a paradoxical year where the world saw the lowest number of new coal capacity commissions in twenty years, yet record-breaking construction activity in China and India. While the European Union is accelerating coal retirements, other regions like Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia continue to expand coal capacity, and some OECD nations like Japan and South Korea are extending coal use through ammonia co-firing.

• In 2024, the world commissioned the lowest amount of new coal capacity in twenty years, totaling 44 GW. This is nearly 30 GW lower than the average annual capacity added between 2004 and 2024, which was 72 GW.
• Despite the global decline in new commissions, the total global coal fleet increased by 18.8 GW in 2024 because new additions (44 GW) outweighed retirements (25.2 GW). Excluding China, the global coal capacity actually decreased by 9.2 GW.
• China and India dominated new coal projects in 2024, together representing 92% of the world's new projects (107 out of 116 GW). China saw its highest annual construction level since 2015 with 94 GW, while India had a record year for new construction projects at 38 GW.
• The European Union (EU27) significantly accelerated coal retirements in 2024, with 11 GW retired compared to 2.7 GW in 2023. Germany led this trend, accounting for nearly half of the EU's retirements with 6.7 GW across 22 units. The EU represented 43.7% of the world's total retired capacity in 2024.
• The United Kingdom became the sixth country to completely eliminate coal since the 2015 Paris Agreement by closing its last coal-fired power plant in 2024.
• In the 38 OECD countries, coal plant projects have dropped from 142 in 2015 to 5 today. However, the report notes that retirement rates must at least triple—from 19 GW in 2024 to 70 GW annually until 2030—to meet Paris Agreement goals.
• Regional trends vary: Indonesia's president announced a total phase-out of coal plants by 2040, and Malaysia committed to the same by 2044. Conversely, Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia continue to build new plants, and Zimbabwe and Zambia are seeing an increase in projects, largely funded by Chinese companies.
• Japan and South Korea are identified as OECD laggards, promoting ammonia co-firing techniques to extend the use of coal despite high costs and low efficiency for large-scale production.

APA

Global Energy Monitor (2025). Grandeur et Décadence 2025. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/Boom-and-Bust-Coal-2025-French_3.pdf

Chicago

Global Energy Monitor. Grandeur et Décadence 2025. 2025. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/Boom-and-Bust-Coal-2025-French_3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Energy Monitor |title=Grandeur et Décadence 2025 |date=April 2025 |url=https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/Boom-and-Bust-Coal-2025-French_3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalenergymonitor2025grandeur, author = {{Global Energy Monitor}}, title = {{Grandeur et Décadence 2025}}, institution = {Global Energy Monitor}, year = {2025}, month = apr, url = {https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/Boom-and-Bust-Coal-2025-French_3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }