China Ramps Up Coal Power as Energy Demand Surges

Although the share of coal in China's electricity generation has been declining in recent years with the renewables boom, Chinese coal power generation and demand remains strong.

Coal still accounts for about 60% of China's power generation, despite a surge in hydropower earlier this year after abundant rainfall, which reduced the share of coal in the country's energy mix during the summer.

But hydropower saw a sharp decline in September, which boosted the use of thermal coal for power generation amid surging power demand in the world's second-largest economy.

China's thermal power generation, which is overwhelmingly coal-fired, jumped by 8.9% last month, per official data cited by Reuters's columnist Clyde Russell.

Total power generation rose by 6% in September from a year earlier as electricity demand has started to outpace China's economic growth in recent years.