As GlobalData reports, the coal-fired power plants currently in operation are sufficient to prevent the world from reaching the target of maximum global warming set by the Paris Climate Convention. Currently, according to GlobalData, more than 60% of the larger active coal-fired power plants are located in the Asia-Pacific region. The difference with the coal-fired power plants there is that they are relatively modern and have had a maximum life of around ten to fifteen years, so they will not be decommissioned in the near future. The situation is different in Europe. Many of the power plants are already 40-45 years old and decommissioning is foreseeable in the coming years.

But things are even more dramatic: China confirmed only in May that there will be new coal-fired power capacities after 2020. More than 40 % of China’s global loans for energy projects under its Belt and Road Initiative in 2018 were based on coal. GlobalData’s coal-based capacity analysis estimates that more than 500 GW of coal-fired power plants are expected to come on stream by 2030, while only more than 300 GW of coal-based power generation will be decommissioned during the same period. More than 80% of the new capacity build-up is likely to occur in China, India and Vietnam. Nevertheless, coal-based decommissioning is likely to be driven by China, India and the US over the next ten years. These countries together account for more than 58% of planned decommissioning due to age and inefficiency.