Retirement of oil and gas plants needs five times the speed to achieve climate goals

An average of 64 GW from oil and gas needs to be phased out each year until 2035.

Oil and gas energy plants around the world have to be retired five times faster over the next twelve years to achieve long-term climate targets.

In a statement by Global Energy Monitor, an average of 64 gigawatts (GW) of oil and gas-fired capacity from their plants must be offline every year until 2035, five times the capacity retired since 2020.

Oil and gas plants could be retired at a faster pace if any project undergoing development – 260 GW of announced capacity and 265 GW in pre-construction stages – becomes operational.

Under the Net Zero Emissions (NZE) roadmap outlined by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the capacity must be reduced by one-third in 2035 and nearly half by 2040. Unabated oil and gas should also drop below 5% of power generation by 2040 and be phased out by 2050.

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Currently, 52 GW has been retired from 2020, accounting for an average of approximately 13 GW each year. Over 80 GW of oil and gas capacity has been announced for retirement on or before 2035. And global overcapacity is estimated to reach 435 GW in 2030, 650 GW in 2035, and 697 GW in 2040.

“Amid record-breaking renewable energy power generation and capacity additions in 2023 and the IEA projecting that global fossil demand will peak by 2030, a fundamental shift away from these risky fossil power investments is imperative,” the report said.