Boom and Bust 2019

The 'Boom and Bust 2019' report by Global Energy Monitor, Sierra Club, and Greenpeace tracks the global coal plant pipeline, noting a general decline in construction starts, pre-construction activity, and plant completions in 2018. While global trends show a shrinking pipeline and record retirements, China remains a significant exception due to the resumption of previously shelved projects and industry proposals for continued expansion.

• Most leading indicators of global coal power capacity growth declined in 2018, including construction starts, pre-construction activity, and plant completions. Specifically, new construction starts dropped 39% from 2017 and 84% since 2015, while newly commissioned capacity fell 20% from 2017 and 53% from 2015.
• The global pre-construction pipeline for coal power has shrunk significantly, falling from 1,090 GW in 2015 to 339 GW in 2018. This decline was most pronounced in China, where planned capacity fell 86% from 515 GW to 70 GW, and India, where it fell 83% from 218 GW to 36 GW.
• China is a major exception to the global decline, with coal power capacity under construction increasing 12% in 2018 to nearly 236 GW. This was driven by the quiet resumption of construction on over 50 GW of capacity previously postponed by the central government. Furthermore, the China Electricity Council proposed a 2030 coal power cap of 1,300 GW, which would allow for an increase of 290 GW over current levels.
• Coal plant retirements reached a near-record pace in 2018, totaling nearly 31 GW globally. The United States led these retirements with 17.6 GW, marking the second-highest year for US retirements after 2015. In the EU, 2018 retirements totaled 3.7 GW, with 2.8 GW coming from the UK.
• India's coal pipeline has collapsed due to a previous over-permitting boom, financial stress, and competition from renewables. In 2018, India permitted less than 3 GW for construction, compared to an annual average of 31 GW between 2008 and 2012. For two consecutive years, India added more solar and wind power capacity than thermal power capacity.
• Chinese state-owned entities (SOEs) are a dominant force in global coal finance, funding one quarter of all global coal power capacity under development outside China. When combined with domestic projects, Chinese financing supports over 50% of all global coal power capacity currently under development.
• Current coal plant operations are incompatible with IPCC climate goals. To limit warming to 1.5°C, a 70% reduction in coal power generation is required by 2030 and a full phase-out by 2050. For a 2°C target, an over 55% reduction is needed by 2030.

APA

Shearer, C., Mathew-Shah, N., Myllyvirta, L., Yu, A., & Nace, T. (2019). Boom and Bust 2019. Global Energy Monitor. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/BoomAndBust_2019_r6_11.pdf

Chicago

Shearer, Christine, Neha Mathew-Shah, Lauri Myllyvirta, Aiqun Yu, and Ted Nace. Boom and Bust 2019. Global Energy Monitor, 2019. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/BoomAndBust_2019_r6_11.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Shearer |first1=Christine |last2=Mathew-Shah |first2=Neha |last3=Myllyvirta |first3=Lauri |last4=Yu |first4=Aiqun |last5=Nace |first5=Ted |title=Boom and Bust 2019 |publisher=Global Energy Monitor |date=March 2019 |url=https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/BoomAndBust_2019_r6_11.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shearer2019boom, author = {Shearer, Christine and Mathew-Shah, Neha and Myllyvirta, Lauri and Yu, Aiqun and Nace, Ted}, title = {{Boom and Bust 2019}}, institution = {Global Energy Monitor}, year = {2019}, month = mar, url = {https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/BoomAndBust_2019_r6_11.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }