The number of coal-fired power plants in the pipeline worldwide declined last year, research released yesterday said, but the fossil fuel most responsible for global warming still generated record carbon dioxide emissions, threatening the Paris climate goals.
Since the 195-nation treaty was inked in 2015, coal power capacity under construction or slated for development has dropped by three-quarters, including a 13 percent year-on-year decrease last year to 457 gigawatts (GW).
Globally, there are more than 2,400 coal-fired power plants operating in 79 nations, with a total capacity of 2,100GW.
Photo: Reuters
A record-low 34 nations have new coal plants under consideration, down from 41 in January last year, according to the annual Global Energy Monitor report, Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline.
China, Japan and South Korea — all historical backers of coal development outside their borders — have pledged to stop funding new coal plants in other nations, though there remain concerns about possible loopholes in China’s commitment.
However, the worldwide operational fleet of coal-fired power grew last year by 18GW, and as of December last year an additional 176GW of coal capacity was under construction — about the same as the year before.
Most of that growth is in China, which accounts for just over half of new coal-fired power in the pipeline. South and Southeast Asia are responsible for another 37 percent.
Three-quarters of the new coal power plants that broke ground last year were in China, where newly commissioned capacity offset coal plant retirements in all other nations combined.
“The coal plant pipeline is shrinking, but there is simply no carbon budget left to be building new coal plants,” said Flora Champenois of Global Energy Monitor. “We need to stop, now.”
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency have warned that having a fighting chance of capping global warming at livable levels means no new coal plants and a rapid phase-out of existing ones.
Rich nations must do so by 2030 and most of the rest of the world by 2040, they said.
Many emerging economies — India, Vietnam and Bangladesh — have cut back on plans for new coal-fired capacity.
“In China, plans for new coal-fired power plants have continued to be announced,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst for the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and a coauthor of the report.
By far the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, China has vowed to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060.
In the US, efforts to curtail coal use have slowed, the report showed.
The amount of US coal capacity retired last year declined for the second consecutive year, from 16.1GW in 2019 to 11.6GW in 2020, and an estimated 6.4GW to 9.0GW last year.
To meet its own climate goals, the US would need to retire 25GW annually between now and 2030.
The EU retired a record 12.9GW last year, including 5.8GW in Germany, 1.7GW in Spain and 1.9GW in Portugal, which became coal-free in November last year — nine years before its target phase-out date.
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