Coal generation in OECD countries halved since its peak in 2007: Ember

As UK’s last coal power plant closes midnight Monday, a third of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries are now coal free, but major economies such as Japan and South Korea continue to have a sizeable share of coal power in their energy mix.

Coal power globally still hit a new record in 2023 as the fall in OECD coal power was outweighed by rising coal power in emerging economies in Asia led by China and India.

The UK is the 14th of 38 OECD countries to achieve a coal-free power system. Among the remaining 24 OECD countries that still have coal-fired electricity, 19 have seen coal power generation fall by at least 30% from its peak in 2007, according to analysis by think tank Ember.

“Only four OECD countries have seen less than a 30% fall in coal from their peak, including South Korea and Japan. Türkiye was the only OECD country to set a new coal power record in 2023. Among the world’s richest countries, who were the first to embrace coal and will be the first to move away from it, the decline in coal power is rapidly accelerating,” it said.

OECD coal generation halved since its peak in 2007 OECD coal generation peaked in 2007, and last year reached half that level for the first time (-52%). Rapid growth in solar and wind was responsible for 87% of the fall in coal during this period. Consequently, coal generation fell to just 17% of the OECD total electricity generation in 2023, down from 36% at its peak in 2007.

Progress is being made to phase out coal power across the OECD, and that will continue throughout this decade. Many are now targeting a fully decarbonised power system by 2035, which means not only phasing out coal power, but also phasing out the majority of unabated gas power.

“Coal power is on its way out in the world’s richest economies. It may surprise some that the shift was not primarily to gas, but rather directly to solar and wind. It is encouraging to see mature economies now switch their focus to repowering their whole economy with clean energy, to ultimately close the chapter not only on coal, but on all fossil fuels,” said Dave Jones, Global Insights Programme Director, Ember.