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The Boom and Bust Coal 2026 report by Global Energy Monitor analyzes global coal power capacity trends in 2025, noting a decoupling where new capacity additions increased while overall electricity generation declined. The report highlights that coal commissioning is increasingly concentrated in China and India, while other nations see a shrinking pipeline of new projects.

This research paper by the Institute for Security Studies examines how corruption, political interference, and governance failures have hindered large-scale energy infrastructure projects in South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifically focusing on coal power stations and hydropower schemes.

The report 'Boom and Bust 2026' by Global Energy Monitor analyzes the global coal power landscape in 2025, highlighting a growing divergence where coal capacity continues to increase while actual generation declines. This trend is most prominent in China and India, where renewables are meeting most new demand despite record coal plant commissioning. The document details regional trends, noting that coal development is geographically narrowing to a few countries, while others, such as the EU and Latin America, are moving toward coal phase-out or 'no new coal' goals.

The report 'Boom and Bust Coal 2026' analyzes global coal power trends in 2025, highlighting a growing divergence between increasing installed capacity and decreasing actual generation. While China and India continue to expand capacity for energy security, global coal development is concentrating in fewer countries, and several nations, including South Korea, have committed to phase-outs.

The May 2026 report 'Boom and Bust' by Global Energy Monitor analyzes the global coal power portfolio, highlighting a growing divergence between the installation of new coal capacity and actual electricity generation. While global capacity increased by 3.5% in 2025, generation fell by 0.6%, with coal increasingly serving as a backup rather than a primary energy source. The report details regional trends, noting that new construction is heavily concentrated in China and India, while other regions face stagnation or decline due to financing constraints and energy transitions.

The 'Boom and Bust 2026' report by Global Energy Monitor analyzes global coal power trends in 2025, highlighting a divergence where new capacity continues to be added—primarily in China and India—despite a decline in actual electricity generation. The report notes that coal is increasingly serving as backup capacity for system security rather than a primary source, while the number of countries planning new coal projects has decreased to 32. A significant portion of the document focuses on Turkey, detailing the tension between strong social demand for energy transition and government policies that continue to support coal through guaranteed purchase mechanisms.

The report 'Boom & Bust Coal 2026' by Global Energy Monitor analyzes the global coal power portfolio in 2025, highlighting a divergence where coal capacity continued to grow despite a decrease in actual coal-fired electricity generation. The document details regional trends, noting that new coal development is increasingly concentrated in China and India, while other regions like Latin America have ceased new coal projects. It also examines the specific challenges facing Ukraine's energy infrastructure due to Russian attacks and the debate over whether to restore old coal plants or transition to decentralized renewable energy.

The report 'Boom & Bust Coal 2026' bySS analyzes global coal power trends in 2025, highlighting a growing gap where coal capacity is increasing while actual electricity production isS is declining. This trend is most prominent in China and India, where coal plants are increasingly used as 'system insurance' to support the integration of renewables. While the number of countries pursuing new coal projects is decreasing, Indonesia remains a significant outlier, expanding coal capacity primarily through 'captive' power plants for mineral processing (nickel and aluminum) and facing regulatory contradictions between its climate commitments and energy planning documents.

In 2025, record solar and wind growth met 99% of global electricity demand increases, causing fossil fuel generation to decline for the first time since 2020. Renewables surpassed coal as a share of global electricity generation for the first time in a century, reaching 33.8%.

China is strategically transitioning its coal power fleet from a baseload generation role to providing system flexibility to support the rapid expansion of wind and solar energy. The country is on track to fully retrofit its existing coal fleet for flexibility by 2027, though the report emphasizes that clean flexibility solutions, particularly battery energy storage, must scale up to avoid locking in emissions beyond 2030.

This report by Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) analyzes the state of coal power expansion in China as of February 2026. It highlights a critical divergence where coal capacity reached a decade-high in 2025 despite falling generation and the rapid growth of clean energy and storage. The authors argue that current investment incentives and a large project pipeline risk locking in overcapacity and hindering China's 2030 climate targets, urging a fundamental shift in coal's role from baseload power to a flexible, residual support resource during the 15th Five-Year Plan.

India is generally on track to meet its National Electricity Plan (NEP) 2032 capacity mix, driven by record solar expansion and a strong pipeline of coal and pumped hydro projects. While solar, hydro, and coal are well-positioned, onshore wind requires significant acceleration, and nuclear capacity is likely to fall short of targets due to long lead times and a limited near-term pipeline.

This report by Ember analyzes the rising effective costs of coal power in India due to declining Plant Load Factors (PLFs). It argues that underutilisation is driving up both fixed and variable costs, making new coal capacity economically inferior to Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy (FDRE).

A report by Ember analyzing electricity generation costs in Türkiye, finding that solar energy is now the cheapest source of electricity in the country, with costs significantly lower than those of domestic coal power plants.

This RMI briefing argues that aging coal-fired power plants are an unreliable and inflexible solution for meeting the rising electricity demand driven by the data center boom in the United States. The document asserts that clean, scalable resources such as battery storage and demand flexibility are better suited to the real-time operational needs of data centers and can meet over 95 percent of future demand.

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.

The Boom and Bust Coal 2025 report by Global Energy Monitor analyzes global coal power capacity trends in 2024, highlighting a divergence between accelerating retirements in Europe and continued large-scale expansion in China and India.

The Türkiye Electricity Review 2025 reports that wind and solar power permanently overtook domestic coal generation in 2024, exceeding domestic coal's historic peak. While the total share of fossil fuels reached its lowest level since 1993, electricity demand growth continues to outpace the deployment of renewables.

The 2024 Global Electricity Source Trends report by Ember analyzes global electricity generation across solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, gas, and coal, highlighting record growth in solar and wind alongside fluctuating trends in fossil fuels and nuclear power.

The 'Boom and Bust Coal 2025' report by Global Energy Monitor and partners analyzes global coal power trends in 2024, highlighting a paradox where global new capacity reached a 20-year low while China and India saw record-breaking construction and proposals. The report specifically details Indonesia's struggle with 'captive' coal plants and the complexities of its energy transition goals.