Coal Remains The Undisputed King Of Global Power
The world is installing wind turbines and solar panels faster than ever, but coal still generates more electricity than any other source, and by a huge margin. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects coal-fired power plants to generate 10,974 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2026, nearly one-third of the 33,313 TWh of electricity produced worldwide. Natural gas is a distant second at 6,976 TWh,…
The world is still heavily reliant on coal for electricity generation, despite the surge in wind and solar power installations. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal will generate nearly as much electricity in 2026 as natural gas and hydropower combined, and 77% more than wind and solar combined. This creates a paradox for the global energy transition, as no single renewable source is close to coal's dominance.
The ongoing U.S.-Iran war has led the IEA to revise its forecast, expecting coal generation to rise instead of falling due to a surge in gas prices making coal more competitive. China and India are the biggest coal consumers, with China alone producing more than half of the world's coal-fired electricity. While wind and solar are growing rapidly, they still have a massive head start to catch up with coal.
The IEA projects coal to remain the largest individual source of electricity through 2030, with global coal-fired generation declining by just 0.9% annually between 2026 and 2030. This means that while renewables will expand quickly, replacing coal will be a much more challenging task, especially when the world's electricity demand continues to grow.
Written by urgent.news from OilPrice's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
