China Permits Two New Coal Power Plants Per Week in 2022
According to a report from Global Energy Monitor (GEM), Chinese local governments permitted 106 gigawatts of new coal power capacity in 2022, equivalent to 100 large coal-fired power plants, and the most since 2015.
Other coal power project activity accelerated as well, with 50% more construction starts and twice as much new capacity announced as in 2021. The capacity of coal power plants that started construction in China in 2022 was six times as large as that in all of the rest of the world combined.
The Chinese energy regulator said in early 2022 that no new coal power plants would be permitted solely for the purposes of bulk power generation. However, the provinces initiating the largest numbers of new coal power projects hardly meet this requirement, as they are among the ones meeting most of the increase in their power needs through coal.
The massive new wave of coal power plants appears to be a response to last summer’s electricity shortages, caused by a historic drought and heatwave, and exacerbated by outdated grid management.
While China is making rapid progress in scaling up clean energy, the country’s power system remains dependent on coal power capacity for meeting electricity peak loads and managing the variability of demand and clean power supply.
The major additions of new coal-fired capacity don’t necessarily mean that coal use or CO2 emissions from the power sector will increase in China. The rapid growth in clean power installations means the other possible outcome is the declining utilization of the country’s vast coal power fleet, as coal-fired power generation peaks and declines.
In any case, hundreds of brand-new coal power plants will make meeting China’s climate targets harder and costlier as the owners of the plants have an interest in protecting their assets and avoiding a rapid coal phase-out.
Flora Champenois, Research Analyst, GEM, said: “China continues to be the glaring exception to the ongoing global decline in coal plant development. The speed at which projects progressed through permitting to construction in 2022 was extraordinary, with many projects sprouting up, gaining permits, obtaining financing and breaking ground apparently in a matter of months. This kind of a process leaves little room for proper planning or consideration of alternatives.”
#coal #CO2emissions