Why Is China Building So Many Coal Plants Despite Its Solar and Wind Boom?

Source: Slashdot

Background

Long‑time Slashdot reader schwit1 shared an article from the Associated Press discussing China’s energy mix in 2025. While the country’s solar and wind capacity continued to grow, it also commissioned a large number of new coal power plants, raising concerns about its ability to reduce carbon emissions sufficiently to limit climate change.

Coal Plant Expansion

• More than 50 large coal units (each 1 GW or larger) were commissioned in 2025, up from fewer than 20 per year over the previous decade.
• In total, China added 78 GW of new coal power capacity in 2025, according to a joint report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor.
• “The scale of the build‑out is staggering,” said report co‑author Christine Shearer of Global Energy Monitor. “In 2025 alone, China commissioned more coal power capacity than India did over the entire past decade.”

Renewable Additions

• China added 315 GW of solar capacity and 119 GW of wind capacity in 2025, based on data from the National Energy Administration.
• These additions reduced the share of coal in total power generation, with coal’s contribution falling by about 1 % as growth in cleaner energy sources covered the increase in electricity demand.

Government Position

• The government argues that coal provides a stable backup for intermittent sources such as wind and solar, which are affected by weather and time of day.
• Shortages in 2022 were partly caused by a drought that impacted hydropower, a major energy source in western China.

Risks and Recommendations

• The rapid build‑out of coal‑fired capacity could delay the transition to cleaner energy, according to analyst Qi Qin of CREA, a co‑author of the report.
• Political and financial pressures may keep these plants operating, limiting room for other power sources.
• The report urges China to accelerate the retirement of aging and inefficient coal plants and to commit in its next five‑year plan (to be approved in March) to ensuring that power‑sector emissions do not increase between 2025 and 2030.

References

• Associated Press article on China’s coal, solar, and wind boom
• China’s climate goals and emission reduction targets
• New coal power capacity details
• Wind and solar capacity additions
• 2022 drought impact on hydropower