China has pledged
to peak its carbon
dioxide emissions
by 2030, as part of
the Paris climate
agreement.
Don't hold
your breath
waiting for
that to
happen !
With a decade left
until that deadline,
China is doing
just the opposite !
China's
electricity
demand
rose 8.5%
last year.
Their electric
grid is already
oversupplied.
So coal power
stations
are utilized
only about
half the time.
Yet, across China,
148GW of polluting,
coal-fired plants
are either being built
or about to begin
construction,
according to
a report from
Global Energy
Monitor,
a non-profit group
that monitors
coal stations.
The current capacity
of the entire EU coal fleet
is 149GW, or the same
capacity as what China
is about to add.
The rest of the world
has been reducing
coal-powered capacity
over the past two years.
But China is building
so much coal power
that it more than offsets
the decline elsewhere
inthe world.
Ted Nace, head of
Global Energy
Monitor, said:
"What is being
built in China
is single-handedly
turning what would
be the beginning
of the decline of coal,
into the continued
growth of coal,".
adding that China was
"swamping
global progress
in bringing
down emissions."
It seems that Chinese
energy companies
are desperate to
gain market share.
Local governments
view coal plants
as a source of jobs
and investment.
"The utilization of
coal-fired power plants
will reach a record low
this year, so there is
no justification to build
these coal plants,"
said Lauri Myllyvirta,
an analyst at the
Centre for Research
on Energy and
Clean Air,
a think-tank.
“But that is
not the logic
that investment
follows in China
. . .
There is
little regard for
the long-term
economics of the
investments
that are
being made."
Is China building
"ghost coal
power plants" ?
China, the world’s biggest
energy consumer, ignores
global pressure to reduce
carbon emissions.
Back in 2016, concerns
over air pollution, and
over-investment in coal,
prompted China
to suspend construction
of hundreds of coal stations.
Since then, much of the
construction restarted.
China, the world’s largest
CO2 emitter, has had
greenhouse gas emissions,
creeping up since 2016,
hitting a record high
last year.
The pace of NEW
construction starts
of Chinese
coal stations
rose 5% in the
first half of 2019,
compared to
a year ago.
121GW
of coal power
is actively under
construction in China.
Last year
China’s
net additions
to its coal fleet
were 25.5GW,
while the
rest of the world
had a net decline
of 2.8GW
as more
coal plants
were closed
than were built.