China’s power industry began construction on nearly 100 gigawatts of new coal plant capacity last year, the most in nearly a decade, a report from two clean-energy groups said Thursday. The development raises concerns about the country’s ability to meet its carbon reduction goals and threatens to undercut China's massive expansion in solar and wind power,

China’s coal plant construction surged last year to the highest level in almost a decade, conflicting with President Xi Jinping’s promise that carbon emissions would peak before 2030, researchers have said.

The US should stop the closure of coal-fired power plants, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, adding the fuel source would be essential to the nation’s power system for decades to come.