Global Coal Power Growth Opportunities

Global Coal Power Growth Opportunities

APAC Drives Investment in Coal-fired Power Generation

There is growing pressure on the global power sector to decarbonize, which in turn puts pressure on new investment in coal-fired power generation. Energy security is a significant mega trend, whose importance is heightened by the Russo-Ukrainian War and the resulting disruption in the global power market. Many of the traditional high coal dependency economies in Asia-Pacific are reluctant to move away from a reliable source of baseload energy, particularly as they face high year-on-year growth in power demand. China will remain the most important market for coal-fired investment, but India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, Japan, and Indonesia are amongst the countries that will continue to build coal-fired plants through the 2020s.

Growth opportunities will come from the existing base of plants, many of which will be operational into the 2060s in APAC. Strong growth is forecast for carbon capture, storage and utilization (CCUS), particularly in APAC. It will not be a standardized offering across all plants, but it will be deployed for key sites, and if the technology’s commercialization continues to improve, growth could be even higher. Another key opportunity will be the deployment of digital technologies to increase operational efficiency of legacy assets—to maximize the power generated from fuel burnt, to minimize emissions, and to minimize unscheduled downtime. Finally, for regions closing their plants, there will be significant opportunities in the decommissioning of those plants.