Boom and Bust 2020

The 2020 report by Global Energy Monitor indicates a general global decline in the coal power pipeline, with construction starts and pre-construction development falling significantly since 2015. However, the global coal fleet grew in 2019 by 34.1 GW, primarily due to a surge of plants entering operation in China. Conversely, the OECD, US, and EU saw continued declines in capacity and generation. Despite these trends, the report notes that current reductions are insufficient to meet the Paris Agreement's goal of reducing coal use by 80% by 2030.

• The global coal fleet saw a net increase of 34.1 GW in 2019, marking the first net capacity increase since 2015. This growth was driven almost entirely by China, which accounted for 64% (43.8 GW) of the 68.3 GW of newly commissioned capacity. Outside of China, the global coal fleet shrank for the second consecutive year as retirements (27.2 GW) exceeded commissioning (24.5 GW).
• Global coal power utilization reached a record low in 2019, with plants operating at an average of 51% of their available operating hours. Global coal power generation declined by 3% compared to 2018, with significant drops in the European Union (24%) and the United States (16%).

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} }