Coal power generation has dropped drastically in India and China for the first time since the 1970s last year, according to an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
The new analysis for Carbon Brief found that there is a fall in the power generated from coal by 3% and 1.6% in India and China respectively.
The last time both countries registered a drop in coal power output was in 1973, the report said.
The fall in 2025 is a sign of things to come, as both countries added a record amount of new clean-power generation last year, which was more than sufficient to meet rising demand.
Both the countries, together, increased the global carbon emission by 90% in last 9 years, which also implies that there is a permanent reduction in coal usage which reflects in the worlds coal consumption and global emission.
According to the report, China beat UK’s total existing power generation capacity by five times - adding more than 300GW of solar power and 100GW of wind power last year, together. This set a new record for China. Meanwhile, India added 35GW of solar, 6GW of wind and 3.5GW of hydropower last year.
For the first time the clean energy growth has played a vital role in minimizing the consumption of coal-fired power generation. This was possible because of the accelerating growth of clean-energy summed up to 44% of the reduction of India’s coal and gas when compared to last five years.
Nonetheless, there are other factor which has helped this reduction like the weather conditions and the demand growth in the market reduced by 20% which has led to 36% of India’s fossil fuel reduction, altogether. This can also be interpreted as severe summer will demand more air conditioning in offices and households, this situation can turn the tables around.
Recently, due to the Russian war on Ukraine,the price surged which pressured the countries to burn cheaper coals, instead. The International Energy Agency said just over a year ago, according to The Guardian, that the rebound, after a slump during the global Covid pandemic, could mean that coal power remained at near-record levels until 2027.