Stable coal consumption expected through to 2025 as electricity demand surpasses renewables supply

Despite the rapid expansion of renewable-energy generation capacity, the considerable growth of electricity demand in key economies indicates the world’s consumption of coal will stay largely stable this year and next, intergovernmental agency the International Energy Agency (IEA) says. Global coal demand is set to remain broadly unchanged both this year and in 2025 as surging electricity demand in some major economies offsets the impacts of a gradual recovery in hydropower and the rapid expansion of solar and wind energy, the agency’s ‘Coal Mid-year Update’ report shows.