“Many developing nations are increasingly choosing coal power over renewable energy sources due to economic and reliability concerns.”

“The IEA's flagship World Energy Outlook (WEO) is the most authoritative source of global energy analysis and projections. Updated annually to reflect the latest energy data, technology and market trends, and government policies, it explores a range of possible energy futures and their implications for energy security, access and emissions. This year's edition comes amid major shifts in global energy policies and markets, and acute geopolitical strains. Governments are reaching different conclusions about the best ways to tackle concerns about energy security, affordability and sustainability.”

“Renewable electricity generation is set to overtake coal in 2025, becoming the largest source of electricity generation globally well before the end of the decade. In emerging and developing economies outside China, renewables capacity growth is set to accelerate to nearly 700 GW per year on average to 2030, led by India, Brazil and the rest of Asia. However, coal power generation in these regions continues to expand to meet rising electricity demand, with India and southeast Asia adding significant coal capacity due to concerns over energy security and grid reliability.”

“Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2025 finds that almost 92% of the world's population now has basic access to electricity. Although this is an improvement since 2022, which saw the number of people without basic access decrease for the first time in a decade, over 666 million people remain without access, indicating that the current rate is insufficient to reach universal access by 2030. International public financial flows to developing countries in support of clean energy increased by 27% from 2022, reaching USD 21.6 billion in 2023. However, the report reveals that the developing world received fewer flows in 2023 than in 2016, when commitments peaked at USD 28.4 billion. Despite gradual diversification, funding remained concentrated, with only two sub-Saharan African countries in the top five recipients.”

“Globally, renewable power capacity is projected to increase almost 4 600 GW between 2025 and 2030 – double the deployment of the previous five years (2019-2024). Renewables will become the largest global energy source, used for almost 45% of electricity generation by 2030. In fact, renewables are expected to surpass coal at the end of 2025 (or by mid-2026 at the latest, depending on hydropower availability) to become the largest source of electricity generation globally.”

“In India and Southeast Asia, coal generation increased by 5% in 2024 as renewables struggled to keep pace with demand growth due to economic pressures and reliability issues during peak hours. Developing nations cited high upfront costs and supply chain delays for renewables as key barriers, leading to continued coal investments.”

“Solar and wind outpaced demand growth in the first half of 2025, as renewables overtook coal's share in the global electricity mix. However, in select developing markets, coal filled gaps where renewables underperformed.”

“Renewable energy will overtake coal to become the world's top source of electricity “by 2026 at the latest”, according to new forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The global reduction in coal-fired electricity generation will result from declines in China and the EU, which will only be partially offset by increases in the US, India and other Asian nations.”

“The required increase in clean energy investments in the NZE Scenario is particularly steep in many emerging and developing economies. The cost of capital remains one of the largest barriers to investment in clean energy projects and infrastructure in many EMDE, with financing costs at least twice as high as in advanced economies as well as China.”

“The International Energy Agency (IAE) released its annual World Energy Outlook this Wednesday, underlining the growing global demand for electricity, boosted by the rush to build AI data centres. The report also shows renewable energy outpacing fossil fuels despite the US turning its back on key climate commitments.”

“More than a billion people around the world live in energy poverty. That means they don't have adequate, reliable, and affordable energy for lighting, cooking, heating, and other daily activities. The challenge today isn't just about basic access; it's about scale. Countries need enough power to run industries, support services, and compete globally. As countries need new generation capacity to meet rising demand, we will support a full range of technologies: solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, storage, gas, and, eventually, nuclear.”

“Coal power generation fell in both China and India in 2025, the first simultaneous drop in half a century, after each nation added record amounts of clean energy. The new analysis for Carbon Brief shows that electricity generation from coal in India fell by 3.0% year-on-year (46 terawatt hours, TWh) and in China by 1.6% (90TWh). The last time both countries registered a drop in coal power output was in 1973.”

“With energy demand rising across emerging markets and developing economies, these regions represent a major opportunity for clean energy investment. Scaling up renewables now can help avoid long-term dependence on fossil fuels.”

“China and India accounted for 87% of the new coal-power capacity put into operation in the first half of 2025, whereas other regions continued to move away from coal. These developments, highlighting a growing global divide between many countries phasing out coal power and a handful continuing to expand new capacity, are revealed in Global Energy Monitor's latest Global Coal Plant Tracker results.”

“The past year also saw record new coal plant proposals in India, with 38 GW. The Indian government has pledged to phase down coal use, but a concrete timeline is lacking. Furthermore, the ongoing coal expansion is likely to ensure that the use of the dirtiest fuel won't peak before 2040. In total, China and India together accounted for 92% (107 out of 116 GW) of all new coal power plant proposals worldwide in 2024.”

“The world's wind and solar farms have generated more electricity than coal plants for the first time this year, marking a turning point for the global power system, according to research. A report by the climate thinktank Ember found that in the first six months of 2025, renewable energy outpaced the world's growing appetite for electricity, leading to a small decline in coal and gas use. China and India were largely responsible for the surge in renewables, according to the Ember report, in contrast with the US and Europe, which relied more heavily on fossil fuels.”

“In 2025, China's new and reactivated coal power project proposals surged to a record high, while capacity additions that came online reached the highest annual level in a decade, even as clean energy put China's CO2 emissions into reverse for the first time and drove down coal power generation. By the end of 2025, a total of 291 GW of coal power capacity remained in China's pipeline (already permitted or under construction), equivalent to around 23% of today's operational coal fleet.”

“The adoption of renewable energy is not a top priority for many developing regions. There are concerns that the shift would make it more difficult to reduce poverty in underdeveloped areas. For many developing nations, the initial cost could be extremely high, and many will require financial and technical assistance to make the shift.”

“In a significant policy transformation, the World Bank has officially lifted its long-standing ban on financing nuclear energy projects in developing countries. This marks a major shift in the global development bank's energy strategy, which now embraces a broader and more inclusive approach to tackling the surging electricity demands across the developing world. Nonetheless, Banga reiterated that the bank's updated strategy is centered on flexibility and country-specific needs, emphasizing that each nation should chart its own path—whether through renewables, natural gas, or nuclear energy—to achieve development and emission goals.”

“Overall, the Global South (including China) accounted for over 84 percent of global coal consumption in 2023. In the Global South, 26 countries (excluding China, India, and Indonesia) invested in coal-based power generation capacity after signing the Paris Agreement. Of these, five invested in coal-based power generation capacity for the first time. The key factor that influenced the decision to invest in coal was affordability.”

“While the costs of large-scale renewable energy systems have been declining their upfront capital investment remains substantial. Developing countries may face financial constraints in adopting renewable energy at scale, potentially burdening their economic development. Integrating fluctuating renewable energy into existing grids can be technically challenging and require significant upgrades.”

“In July 2025, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected that renewable energy would overtake coal to become the world's top source of electricity by “2026 at the latest”. The forecast proved accurate as solar and wind met and exceeded all demand growth in the first half of 2025, leading to renewables overtaking coal for the first time and fossil generation falling slightly.”

“In the Stated Policies Scenario, coal-fired power generation in developing economies like India and ASEAN nations grows through 2030 due to affordability and reliability needs, offsetting declines elsewhere; renewables grow but cannot fully displace coal without enhanced grid and storage infrastructure.”