A predicted ‘coal comeback’ due to the Iran war energy crisis has not materialised, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Analysing countries that disclose near-real-time electricity data, CREA found that coal-fired generation was flat in March globally, falling by 3.5 per cent outside of China, where it rose by a modest two per cent as some plants switched from gas to coal.
Seaborne coal transport volumes, meanwhile, fell by three per cent globally, bringing them to their lowest level since 2021, the height of the Covid pandemic.
Total fossil fuel power generation fell by one per cent compared with the previous year, with gas-fired generation falling by four per cent.
The analysis covers the world’s largest power markets – China, the US, the EU and India, among others – which account for around 87 per cent of global coal power and more than 60 per cent of gas-fired power generation.