Boom and Bust 2020

The report finds that while the global coal fleet grew by 34.1 GW in 2019, this was primarily driven by China, as the fleet outside China shrank for the second consecutive year. Most leading indicators of growth, including construction starts and pre-permit development, continued to decline globally. The report highlights a shift in financing, with Western commercial banks exiting project finance for coal, while Chinese public finance and Indian state-backed institutions continue to support new capacity. Despite these trends, the report argues that coal power use must fall by 80% by 2030 to align with the 1.5C warming limit of the Paris climate agreement.

• The global coal fleet experienced a net increase of 34.1 GW in 2019, marking the first net capacity increase since 2015. This growth was heavily skewed toward China, which accounted for 64% (43.8 GW) of the 68.3 GW of newly commissioned capacity. Conversely, the global coal fleet outside of China shrank for the second year in a row.
• Global coal power utilization reached a record low in 2019, with plants operating at an average of 51% of their available operating hours. This coincided with a 3% global decline in coal power generation compared to 2018, with significant drops in the EU (24%) and the US (16%).
• The pipeline for new coal capacity is contracting. Global capacity under construction and in pre-construction development fell from 1,468 GW in 2015 to 499.2 GW in 2019. Construction starts decreased by two-thirds from 72.4 GW in 2015 to 24.3 GW in 2019.
• In China, a permitting boom between 2014 and 2016 led to an increase in plants entering operation in 2019. However, 40% (17.9 GW) of the 43.8 GW commissioned in 2019 were relegated to emergency back-up status, indicating that capacity additions are exceeding demand.
• Coal plant retirements in the US reached their second highest level on record in 2019 at 16.5 GW. Retirements under the Trump administration averaged 13.7 GW per year, a 67% increase compared to the 8.2 GW annual average during the Obama administration.
• Financial support for new coal projects is shifting from private to public sources. No Australian, European, or US commercial banks provided direct project financing for construction starts in 2019. In contrast, the Export-Import Bank of China supported 15% (2.8 GW) of construction starts outside China, and Indian projects relied heavily on state-controlled entities like the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).
• Japan is the primary driver of new coal power within the OECD. It has 11.9 GW under domestic development and is behind 24.7 GW of coal power abroad via public finance. This domestic development could increase the lifetime CO2 emissions of Japan's existing coal fleet by 50%.

APA

Shearer, C., Myllyvirta, L., Yu, A., Aitken, G., Mathew-Shah, N., Dallos, G., & Nace, T. (2020). Boom and Bust 2020. Global Energy Monitor. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/BoomAndBust_2020_English_11.pdf

Chicago

Shearer, Christine, Lauri Myllyvirta, Aiqun Yu, Greig Aitken, Neha Mathew-Shah, Gyorgy Dallos, and Ted Nace. Boom and Bust 2020. Global Energy Monitor, 2020. https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/BoomAndBust_2020_English_11.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Shearer |first1=Christine |last2=Myllyvirta |first2=Lauri |last3=Yu |first3=Aiqun |last4=Aitken |first4=Greig |last5=Mathew-Shah |first5=Neha |last6=Dallos |first6=Gyorgy |last7=Nace |first7=Ted |title=Boom and Bust 2020 |publisher=Global Energy Monitor |date=March 2020 |url=https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/BoomAndBust_2020_English_11.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shearer2020boom, author = {Shearer, Christine and Myllyvirta, Lauri and Yu, Aiqun and Aitken, Greig and Mathew-Shah, Neha and Dallos, Gyorgy and Nace, Ted}, title = {{Boom and Bust 2020}}, institution = {Global Energy Monitor}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/migration/reports/BoomAndBust_2020_English_11.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }