Despite push in renewables, China was the country that added the most installed capacity. This technology, by far the most polluting, also increased slightly in the rest of the world for the first time since 2019.
The energy transition is underway and renewables—much cleaner and cheaper—have the upper hand, both in the medium and long term. However, the signs remain discouraging: coal plants saw the largest increase in installed capacity in 2023 since 2016, according to figures from the Global Energy Monitor. The organization urges the countries most dependent on coal generation to “increase their gradual elimination commitments and ensure that announcements are reflected in plant-by-plant retirement plans,” according to its annual monograph on this fuel. The world put 69.5 new gigawatts of coal into operation and only 21 passed away last year. The net result was, therefore, an annual increase of just over 48 GW, up to a cumulative total of 2,130 GW. Reducing this figure is essential in the fight against global warming. To meet that goal, the world would have to retire 126 GW per year between now and 2040.