Global coal investment reaches 14-year high

The report highlights a focus on energy security, supply resilience, and system reliability, with countries investing in coal supply, infrastructure, and modernisation to support economic development, meet rising electricity demand, and respond to geopolitical uncertainty.

Key findings from the report include:

• China accounts for 70% of global coal investment.
• India is expanding coal production, transport infrastructure, and coal gasification capabilities to strengthen energy security and reduce import dependence of key commodities such as LNG, urea, ammonia, and methanol.
• Southeast Asia is investing US$110 billion in coal since 2015, with coal’s share in the energy mix increasing from 20 – 30%.
• Continued investment in coking coal projects, reflecting coal’s ongoing importance to steel production and industrial development.

Michelle Manook, Chief Executive of FutureCoal, said the report demonstrates a clear shift in global energy investment priorities:

“These findings confirm that energy security will not be achieved through ideology. It is achieved through diversity, reliability, and affordability, and those principles are once again driving investment decisions.”

FutureCoal research indicates that 90% of new coal-fired power capacity expected online in 2026 will utilise ultra-supercritical and supercritical technologies, underscoring how coal investment is directed towards advanced technologies that improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and strengthen energy security.

The investment strategies of countries, such as China and India, reflect the principles underpinning FutureCoal’s Sustainable Coal Stewardship (SCS) framework, which focuses on maximising the value, efficiency, and environmental performance of every tonne of coal across the value chain.

China is investing heavily in coal value-chain modernisation, carbon capture, and coal-to-chemicals projects; while India is targeting the gasification of 100 million t of coal by 2030, supported by US$4 billion in government incentives. In the US, the Department of Energy committed US$625 million in 2025 towards coal plant recommissioning, retrofits, and advanced technologies designed to strengthen grid reliability, affordability, and energy security.

Ms Manook added:

“Investing in coal does not mean abandoning emissions. These countries are pursuing both through investment in technologies that improve the performance of coal assets while supporting reliability, affordability and lower-emission outcomes.”

Ms Manook said the report reinforces the urgency of aligning international finance with the coal transformation already underway:

“Exclusionary investment strategies have failed. They have not reduced coal demand; they have reduced investment in the technologies that maximise coal’s environmental performance.”

Ms Manook concluded:

“The world is investing in coal because the world still needs coal. The question is whether governments, investors and financial institutions will support the technologies that make coal cleaner, more efficient, and more sustainable. That is precisely what SCS is designed to achieve.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/29052026/global-coal-investment-reaches-14-year-high/