Chinese President Xi Jinping's declaration to stop financing new international coal projects will undoubtedly accelerate Asia's energy transition. However, experts' worries emerge from the financial gap that will arise from this ban that will cancel 40 gigawatts (GW) of coal projects in at least 20 countries.

China has financed 53.1GW of foreign coal plants from 2013 to 2020, amounting to $50.1b, which represents 56% of foreign investments in the coal plants during the period, Rystad Energy Analyst Fabian Ronningen said, citing data from Global Coal Public Financing Tracker.

Rystad Energy expects 70GW of new coal plants in Asia in the next decade and, assuming China continues financing 56% of foreign investments in new coal power plants, it would account for 39.2GW, he said. This translates to a total investment need of $37b, assuming similar investments per megawatt cost of coal capacity is roughly $945m/GW.

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