China’s Coal Build-Out Raises Questions on Future Power Plans - Yahoo Finance
China’s Coal Build-Out Raises Questions on Future Power Plans
(Bloomberg) -- China is continuing to permit massive amounts of new coal power plants, raising questions about its promises to consign the fuel to a supporting source for renewables.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Citadel Vets 69,000 Intern Applicants to Find Next Math Geniuses
Putin Agrees to Visit China in First Trip Since Arrest Warrant
What to Do With a 45-Story Skyscraper and No Tenants
S&P 500 Climbs 1% as Traders Dial Back Fed Wagers: Markets Wrap
US Court Paves Way for Spot Bitcoin ETF in Grayscale Ruling
The dirtiest fossil fuel has long been China’s mainstay energy source, accounting for more than 56% of total consumption. As the country has focused on meeting climate goals and installed record amounts of renewables, government officials have changed their terminology, increasingly referring to coal as having a “supporting” role to wind and solar.
The surge in new coal plant approvals, which began after power shortages last year, is raising questions about China’s commitment to that new role, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and Global Energy Monitor analysts said in a joint report on Tuesday.
From January to June, China permitted 52 gigawatts of new coal capacity, bringing the total amount of plants approved or under construction to 243 gigawatts, the analysts said. That’s more than all the existing coal plants in the US, and would increase China’s capacity to burn the fuel by 23%.
Perhaps more concerning than the size of the fleet of polluting plants is their location, the researchers said. Most are being built in provinces that already have more than enough existing coal plants to meet demand peaks and balance out intermittent wind and solar generation.
In the industrial powerhouse province of Guangdong, for example, the official five-year plan for energy development published in March 2022 called for strictly controlling new coal projects. But a revision published this May, after last year’s summer power shortages, instead aimed to commission 13 gigawatts of new coal plants by 2025.
“The changes to Guangdong’s energy plans make it clear that despite the rhetoric, the new wave of coal power projects is not supporting but hindering the uptake of clean energy,” the researchers said.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Nigeria’s Train to Nowhere Shows How Not to Build Public Transit
The Next Wave of Scams Will Be Deepfake Video Calls From Your Boss
Stock Pickers Never Had a Chance Against Hard Math of the Market
Luxury Villas Rise in Palestinian Boomtown Built on Shaky Peace
Lyme Disease Has Exploded, and a New Vaccine Is (Almost) Here
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: hydropower
Hydropower — electricity generated by turbines capturing energy from moving water — was for many years the primary contributor of renewable energy to the U.S. electricity grid. Its growth was rapid into the 1970s, and since then has offered a stable supply of power, while a declining share of all generation. For many years, hydropower was seen as clean energy and an unalloyed good, but a greater understanding of the impact of dams on ecosystems and wildlife has led to the removal of some dams. As of 2019, hydropower trails wind as a renewable source of power generation.