Chinas Dekarbonisierung ist so schnell, dass selbst neue Kohlekraftwerke nicht aufhalten

While headlines around the world have focused on China’s continued coal use, the actual story is much more complex. Behind those numbers is a rapidly changing energy landscape that could lead to a much less carbon-intensive future.

The key elements of this are the fast changes in non-fossil energy capacity, especially the explosion of solar energy since 2022. There is a big difference between the construction of coal-fired power plants and the actual use of coal. While Chinese companies have continued to build new power plants, many of them are running at half capacity, and some may never be used.

Moreover, the government continues to force old, inefficient plants to close down. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the percentage of China’s energy generated by coal has dropped by more than 10 percent in the past decade and may well have peaked in absolute terms. Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of new electricity-generating capacity is renewables.

The truth?

Last year, China [started](https://energyandcleanair.org/publication/when-coal-wont-step-aside-the-challenge-of-scaling-clean-energy-in-china/) construction on an estimated [95 gigawatts](https://www.carbonbrief.org/chinas-construction-of-new-coal-power-plants-reached-10-year-high-in-2024/) (GW) of new coal power capacity, enough to power the entire UK [twice over](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/688b52e67b28774ca0437f09/DUKES_2025_Chapters_1-7.pdf).

It accounted for 93% of new global coal-power construction in 2024.

The boom appears to [contradict](https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-record-drop-in-chinas-co2-emissions-needed-to-meet-2025-target/) China’s climate commitments and its [pledge](http://english.scio.gov.cn/topnews/2021-04/23/content_77433094.htm) to “strictly control” new coal power.

The fact that China already has significant [underused](https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/china-coal-plants) coal power capacity and is [adding](https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-clean-energy-just-put-chinas-co2-emissions-into-reverse-for-first-time/) enough clean energy to cover rising electricity demand also calls the necessity of the buildout into question.

Furthermore, so much new coal capacity provides an easy [counterargument](https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/china-is-not-the-wests-environmental-ally/) for claims that China is serious about the energy transition.

[Read some facts](https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-why-china-is-still-building-new-coal-and-when-it-might-stop/#:~:text=Last%20year%2C%20China%20started%20construction,coal%2Dpower%20construction%20in%202024)

If China is building renewables faster than new coal plants and they already have vastly under utilised coal plants (apparently) why do they need so much more coal.

Nothing to do with renewables being ineffective providing baseload I guess…nah.

I’m no expert but wasn’t the saying “the peak demand for horses was just before the cars took over”