Global Energy Monitor released its annual review of global coal use, saying power generation dropped slightly in 2025.While its overall use decreased, the amount of coal-fired power capacity rose by 3.5%, primarily due to new projects in China and India.In the EU, nearly 70% of planned retirements of coal plants for 2025 failed to materialize, partly due to concerns over energy disruptions.The U.S. was a major outlier, with policy interventions leading to a 13% increase in coal electricity generation.
Coal use across the world continued to drop in 2025, but there was an increase in the capacity to burn it, according to an annual report by data analysis group Global Energy Monitor. Overall power generation from coal declined by 0.6% last year, but the amount that was on call if needed for power grids rose by 3.5%.
Most of that growth was concentrated in China, where additional coal capacity is increasingly considered a backup option to ensure energy security. While China added 78.1 gigawatts of coal power capacity in 2025, its actual use of coal power fell by 1.2%.
This decline was notable as it came amid an overall rise in Chinese energy demand. According to the report, more than 90% of that increased demand was met not with coal, but with wind and solar. While China remains far and away the world’s largest user of coal, more of its energy needs are being met with renewables.
