Decoding the coal-power transition in China: facts, challenges, and opportunities

This report analyzes the recent surge in coal power approvals in China, the drivers behind this expansion, and the strategies being employed to transition the power sector toward decarbonization and flexibility.

• China experienced a significant increase in new coal power approvals during 2022 and 2023, reaching 1.6 times the total approvals seen from 2016 to 2021. While this trend slowed in 2024, approvals remained high at approximately 45 gigawatts (GW). This acceleration was driven by factors including energy security concerns, a lack of power-system flexibility, rapidly growing power demand, and record-low river flow and hydropower output over a 20-year period.
• China's strategy for transitioning coal power involves maintaining a significant scale for supply continuity while improving flexibility and decarbonizing assets. Since 2021, flexibility retrofits have been completed on over 300 GW of existing coal plants, with an additional 200–400 GW targeted for retrofits between 2024 and 2027. Additionally, the country is piloting carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and co-firing with lower carbon fuels to reduce carbon intensity.
• Decarbonizing the power sector requires decoupling coal from power-demand growth and security concerns. Proposed strategies include replacing coal as the primary generator by expanding wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear power to exceed demand growth, and replacing coal's role in providing system flexibility and reliability through battery energy storage, pumped hydro, and demand-side flexibility.

APA

RMI (2025). Decoding the coal-power transition in China: facts, challenges, and opportunities. https://rmi.org/resources/decoding-the-coal-power-transition-in-china-facts-challenges-and-opportunities/

Chicago

RMI. Decoding the coal-power transition in China: facts, challenges, and opportunities. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/decoding-the-coal-power-transition-in-china-facts-challenges-and-opportunities/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Decoding the coal-power transition in China: facts, challenges, and opportunities |date=15 July 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/decoding-the-coal-power-transition-in-china-facts-challenges-and-opportunities/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025decoding, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Decoding the coal-power transition in China: facts, challenges, and opportunities}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/decoding-the-coal-power-transition-in-china-facts-challenges-and-opportunities/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }