China’s addition of new coal-fired power plants hurting global efforts to phase out dirty fossil fuel, report shows

Name: China increases coal production to ensure winter supplies, easing energy shortage
Uploaded: 2022-04-26T00:30:16.000Z
Duration: 1 min 42 s
Description: China increases coal production to ensure winter supplies, easing energy shortage

China added 25.2GW of new coal capacity in 2021, accounting for over half of the global total of 45GW, Global Energy Monitor report shows

Globally, coal-fired power plant capacity under development declined by 13 per cent to a record-low 457GW in 2021

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China’s national flag flutters in front of a coal-powered power station in Datong, northern Shanxi province. Photo: AFP

Yujie Xue

Published: 8:30am, 26 Apr 2022

China continues to lead the world in setting up new coal plants, commissioning more capacity than the rest of the world combined, which could hinder its aim to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 and set back global efforts to phase out the dirty fossil fuel, a report found.

The world’s fleet of operating coal-fired plants grew by 18.2 gigawatts in 2021, mostly driven by China, according to the study released by non-profit research organisation Global Energy Monitor (GEM) on Tuesday. China alone added 25.2 gigawatts of new coal capacity in 2021, accounting for over half of the global total of 45GW, and almost offset the 26.8GW of coal plants retired in the rest of the world last year.

On the whole, global coal power capacity under development declined by 13 per cent last year to a record-low 457GW, according to the study. However, China’s share increased by 7 per cent to 251GW.

“The coal plant pipeline is shrinking, but there is simply no carbon budget left to be building new coal plants. We need to stop, now,” said Flora Champenois, research analyst at San Francisco-based GEM.

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China increases coal production to ensure winter supplies, easing energy shortage

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released this month showed there is no carbon budget left to accommodate new coal plants, and that coal use needs to fall by 75 per cent by 2030 from 2019 levels to limit a global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius, in line with the Paris Agreement.

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