China has increased permits for new coal-fired power plants this year, Greenpeace said on Wednesday, with authorities trying to reduce the risk of economically painful power shortages.
China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases that drive global warming, and President Xi Jinping pledged last year to phase out coal use from 2026 as part of a series of ambitious national climate commitments.
But activists fear those goals are under threat as the government focuses on economic challenges even as the deadly effects of climate change are felt around the world.
According to research by Greenpeace, Chinese regulators gave the go-ahead for coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 8.63 gigawatts in the first quarter of 2022.
That’s nearly half of the total coal capacity approved last year, environmentalists said.
“Building more coal-fired capacity will not provide China with energy security,” said Wu Jinghan, climate and energy activist at Greenpeace in Beijing.
“China has an overcapacity of coal-fired power plants. Performance deficits arise from the poor integration of generation, grid, load and storage.”
Approvals for new coal-fired power plants fell in mid-2021 but rebounded later in the year as China experienced widespread power outages due to a supply crisis.
Electricity use has skyrocketed this summer as China suffers an intense heatwave and air conditioners in homes and businesses are cranked up to try to keep people cool.
China relies on coal for around 60 percent of its electricity and has asked local miners to increase capacity by 300 million tons this year.
The State Council, China’s cabinet, announced a 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) investment in coal-fired power generation in May as coal producers came under pressure to ramp up production ahead of the 2025 threshold.
“Overcapacity of this one energy source is a major hurdle for energy security as well as for China’s energy transition,” Wu warned.
Soaring global commodity prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have renewed China’s focus on energy security.
As the Chinese economy falters under strict Covid guidelines and ongoing supply chain disruptions, authorities are trying to spur growth through a massive push to build infrastructure — which relies mostly on coal-fired power.
China is the world’s largest consumer and producer of coal, and analysts fear economic targets will derail its promise to become the world’s highest-carbon emitter by 2030.
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