With the shelving of two coal plant proposals in Honduras and Brazil in 2025, Latin America no longer has any new coal plants under active consideration – a collapse of the 18 plants totaling 7.3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity proposed in 2015, according to new data from Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
On Wednesday, Honduras announced that it was joining the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), a coalition of governments and others committed to transitioning away from coal, which implies that its last coal plant proposal, the 0.1 GW Puente Alto Energy power station, will be cancelled.
GEM also now counts Brazil’s last active coal plant proposal – the 0.6 GW Pedra Altas power station – as shelved as there has been no movement on the plant’s licensing since 2023.
These developments put Latin America squarely in the realm of the UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres’s 2019 call for “no new coal,” defined as the cancelling of all unabated coal proposals not already under construction.
Brazil could help cement this status by becoming a member of the PPCA and making clear it has no intention of building new coal plants. As GEM notes in its annual Boom and Bust 2025 coal report, coal power in Brazil is heavily subsidized, with just two coal plants receiving over R$5 billion from 2020 to 2024 – costs that are passed on to all Brazilian ratepayers.
Christine Shearer, Project Manager at Global Energy Monitor, said “Honduras is signaling a decisive shift away from coal. The country is an example for others in Latin America that a coal-free future is possible. The baton is now being passed to Brazil. Brazil is in a prime position to lead the charge in the global coal-to-clean energy transition – and help keep the Paris Climate Agreement on track.”
Juliano Bueno de Araujo, PhD, Presiding Director at ARAYARA.org, said, “It is crucial for Brazil to formally join the PPCA, especially amid intense pressure from Congress advocating for coal and gas subsidies to be extended until 2050. As this year’s COP host, we cannot miss the opportunity to officially commit to no new coal."
