Global coal energy industry - statistics & facts
Despite efforts to reduce its usage on a global scale, coal still accounts for more than one fourth of primary energy consumption, with its shares having stagnated for much of the past decade. Coal use is especially prevalent in the power sector, where it remains the world’s largest source of electricity generation. As of 2024, there are more than 2,400 individual active coal power plants in the world.
Chinese financial institutions such as China CITIC Bank and ICBC have been the top banks for coal power companies in the past few years.
Coal use today and most common tech types installed
As coal is often one of the cheapest and most secure means of obtaining electricity, it has been favored by many fast-growing economies such as China and India. In fact, the use of coal power in China has increased so much over the past three decades that it has become the largest producer of coal-fired power worldwide. In 2023, China generated over 5,700 terawatt-hours of electricity from burning coal, which accounted for more than half of the world's coal power production. Subcritical and supercritical combustion types have historically been the most installed technologies in a coal power station. Subcritical was the first type of coal power generating process developed. However, since then more efficient means of combustion, as well as carbon capture techniques have been introduced, with ultra-super being the preferred choice today.Coal investment outlook
Global installed coal power capacity has risen to over 2.2 terawatts and is projected to plateau in the coming years. Many governments have introduced phase-out dates to be reached before mid-century to reduce their carbon footprint and mitigate climate change. Nevertheless, as of 2024, there was still over 600 gigawatts of coal power capacity in the pipeline.Chinese financial institutions such as China CITIC Bank and ICBC have been the top banks for coal power companies in the past few years.
