China’s rapid transition to renewable energy will lead to a surfeit of coal-fired power plants, leaving authorities struggling to dispose of coal infrastructure worth billions of dollars.

If current coal investments are not halted, China could by 2030 be saddled with $90.4bn worth of “stranded coal assets” — plants that will never make a return on investment — according to a report published on Monday by the Paris-based Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. 

Environmentalists have applauded China’s pledge to derive 42 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. However, policymakers must now decide what to do with hundreds of gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity, the legacy of decades of central planning and stimulus-led infrastructure spending.