Installed global coal power plant capacity in select countries 2021

China has the highest installed capacity of coal power plants in the world. As of January 2021, it operated coal plants with a combined capacity of 1,042.9 gigawatts. This was more than four times the operational capacity of coal plants in the United States, which ranked second. China's carbon dioxide emissions from coal combustion reached 7.2 billion metric tons in 2019 - roughly 70 percent of the country's total emissions.

Coal power plant pipeline

While coal use has come under harsh scrutiny over its highly polluting nature, the industry has continued investing in new coal-fired generation plants. The global installed coal power generation capacity is projected to see a net increase over the next decades and predicted to reach 2.2 terawatts in 2050.

Worldwide, about 180 gigawatts of new coal capacity was under construction in 2020, with a further 300 gigawatts in various stages of planning. However, the capacity of the coal plant pipeline has decreased over the last few years. These announced coal power plants around the world were primarily to serve the growth in coal demand from new power plants in India and China.