UPDATE ON INTERNATIONAL FINANCE FOR COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS, CCC/298

ABSTRACT

This report is an update of a review previously published in 2017 by the IEA Clean Coal Centre (IEACCC) entitled ‘International finance for coal-fired power plants’ (Baruya, 2017). The report verifies, updates and expands on the findings presented in 2017. The 2017 report was based on data aggregated in 2014, taking into account lags in data collection and verification. The 2019 version updates the original report with the addition of data from 2015-17.

The purpose of the report is to provide information on the recent financing trends by source and geography. The analysis concludes that financing levels have fallen from US$152 billion to US$139 billion (-9%). However, the annual changes over the period have been erratic, and financing for coal mines has increased whereas financing for coal-fired power plants has decreased. There is insufficient evidence to suggest a further shift from the Western banks to Asian institutions – financing patterns of Western banks vary between different banks and a clear trend cannot be inferred from the span of data examined. Finally, the report highlights gaps in data on the sources of finance. This gap is particularly significant for coal mining and requires further analysis and explanation.