China put a brake on approvals for coal-fired power plants in the first half of this year as the development of renewable energy gained momentum, according to a new report. More can be done to roll back previously approved facilities, it said.
The government permitted only 9 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity, 83 per cent lower than a year earlier, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said in a report on Thursday. Proposals for building new and reviving older plants also saw a 38 per cent decline to 37GW, it added.
“The steep drop in new coal plant permits is a hopeful sign that China’s massive solar and wind builds are dampening its coal ambitions,” Christine Shearer, research analyst at GEM, said in the report.
The slowdown in coal-fired plant approvals reflects China’s priority in promoting clean energy, which is now being installed at levels sufficient to meet China’s electricity demand growth, the non-profit organisations said in the report.
Wind and solar energy are expected to account for more than 40 per cent of China’s total installed power-generation capacity by end-2024, after surpassing coal-based capacity for the first time this year, the China Electricity Council (CEC) said last month.
The country had a combined 1,180GW of wind and solar capacity as of June 30, or 38.4 per cent of China’s overall capacity, according to CEC, which represents the nation’s power enterprises and institutions. The country wants non-fossil fuel sources to contribute 80 per cent of its energy mix by 2060, its carbon-neutrality target.
Even so, construction of previously approved coal projects has not tailed off, according to the latest report, as work on more than 41GW of coal projects was in progress as of June 30. That is more than 90 per cent of global new coal construction activities.
“The development of clean energy enables the Chinese government to set more ambitious goals for reducing coal power generation and carbon emissions,” said Qin Qi, China analyst at CREA and lead author of the new report.
“China needs to stop allowing room for fossil-fuel emissions to grow in its policies,” she said. “Energy security should be achieved through clean energy and a more flexible, market-oriented power grid, rather than by burning coal.”
In addition to halting new coal power approvals, China must also progressively phase out its massive coal power facilities, by retiring existing coal plants at a faster pace and cancelling previously approved projects, the report said.