African Coal Death Watch

The Issue

Retiring coal-first power plants is a core strategy for transitioning global power systems to a cleaner future. Several African countries have coal resources, which has raised worries about a potential surge in new coal-fired power plants on the continent.

Relevance

South Africa’s coal dependence and its huge size relative to other power systems have skewed regional aggregates. Outside of that one country, coal power is extremely limited on the continent, the pipeline of potential new projects is small, and most of these projects will never reach completion.  Nevertheless, misleading expectations of African coal have stoked fears and influenced investment policies.

Our Approach

The Hub’s African Coal Death Watch tracks all proposed coal projects on the continent and assesses their likelihood of reaching completion.