China’s power industry began construction on nearly 100 gigawatts of new coal plant capacity last year, the most in nearly a decade, a report from two clean-energy groups said yesterday.
The development raises concerns about the country’s ability to meet its carbon reduction goals and threatens to undercut China’s massive expansion in solar and wind power, which has far outpaced that in the US and Europe, the report said.
“Instead of replacing coal, clean energy is being layered on top of an entrenched reliance on fossil fuels,” it said.
Photo: AP
The report is part of a review of China’s coal projects done every six months by the Europe-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and the US-based Global Energy Monitor.
Construction began on 94.5 gigawatts of coal power plant capacity last year, more than in any year since 2015, according to a worldwide database of coal plants maintained by Global Energy Monitor.
Work also resumed on 3.3 gigawatts of suspended projects, the report said.
“A substantial number of new plants will come online in the next 2-3 years, further solidifying coal’s role in the power system,” it said.
The concern is that coal power would displace solar and wind capacity. The report said that in the last three months of last year, electricity generation from fossil fuels remained high, while solar and wind use dropped sharply.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) announced two climate goals in 2020 — a peak in carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060.
China’s carbon emissions might have already peaked and the next challenge is to begin reducing them, analysts have said.
The report from the clean energy groups said that China accounted for 93 percent of construction starts globally for coal power plants last year.
Proposals for new or revived coal plant projects in China fell last year to 68.9 gigawatts from more than 100 gigawatts the two previous years, suggesting that construction starts could slow, report said.
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