China moves away from electricity generated by coal: study

SHANGHAI: China has restarted the construction of more than 50 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired power plants last year, canceling the global shift to fossil fuels, a new study said on Thursday (March 28th).

China has repeatedly pledged to reduce its dependence on coal, a major source of smog and greenhouse gases that warms the climate, and has already reduced the share of coal in its bouquet total energy, from 68.5% in 2012 to 59%.

However, satellite images show that China has "quietly resumed" the construction of dozens of previously clbadified facilities in 2018, making it a "glaring exception to the global decline," says a joint report from environmental groups Global Energy Monitor, Greenpeace and Sierra Club.

The report warned that China could build an additional 290 GW, more than the entire US coal capacity, while staying within the 1300 GW ceiling proposed by the Electricity Council. from China for the domestic production of electricity from coal. influential industrial group.

China's National Development and Reform Commission and its National Energy Administration did not immediately respond to faxed requests to comment on the findings of the report.

Lauri Myllyvirta, an badyst at Greenpeace's Global Air Pollution Unit, said Chinese companies "are pushing for hundreds of additional coal plants."

"It would be almost impossible to reconcile a new wave of coal-fired power plants with the emission reductions needed to avoid the worst impacts of global warming," he said.

Worldwide, the number of newly completed coal projects has decreased by 20% in 2018 and the number of plant outages has continued at a record pace, the study says.

But China's relationship with the dirtiest fossil fuels remains ambivalent.

The coal-based power generation capacity in the country increased by 12% in 2018, although it was still one-third lower than in 2015. Beijing has also significantly reduced its permits for New projects.

While China has promised to limit consumption at the national level and even reduce spending in areas like Beijing, Hebei and Henan, coal-generated production has increased, especially from new "coal bases". "in the north-west of the country.

And while it has promoted alternative fuels at home and built hundreds of solar and wind farms, China continues to finance more than a quarter of new coal-fired power plants abroad.

China also wants to support coal prices and ensure a "soft landing" for a commodity product responsible for millions of domestic jobs in distressed industrial districts.

The availability of increasingly competitive and reliable renewable energies, however, has raised fears that coal investments will soon become unprofitable "fixed badets".

The state-owned company for development and investment, a centrally-managed investment group and holding major stakes in the energy sector, announced earlier this year that it is the only one of its kind in the world. it would no longer fund coal projects.

Sources told Reuters last week that the central bank is also preparing to issue new guidelines that will prevent "clean coal" projects, including low-carbon coal-fired power plants, from issuing "green bonds".