How many coal plants in china

Meanwhile, the annual operating hours of coal power are expected to decline further over time, due to competition from renewable energy and severe overcapacity of the whole system. With coal plants averaging around 4, hours of operation per year, less than half of the 8, theoretical maximum, the profitability of major power companies is already extremely low. Last year saw the first bankruptcies in the sector, with pressure from wind and solar one of the key factors. Electricity market reforms, due to be implemented over the next few years, make the profitability of new coal plants even lower and more uncertain, as the power system moves away from guaranteed operating hours and prices.

The need for capacity to meet peak demand will also be substantially reduced when cross-region transmission and flexibility increases, instead of every province building capacity as if it was an island. Many of the proposed capacity targets and projections appear to ignore these changes. Taken together, the evidence points to multiple reasons why some of the major state-owned coal power developers are hesitant to commit to new coal.

This is fundamentally different from the assumptions of the policymaking bodies and lobby groups mentioned above. This interview appeared on Chinese social media site WeChat only a few hours before it disappeared, exposing the sensitivity of the issue. Receive our free Daily Briefing for a digest of the past 24 hours of climate and energy media coverage, or our Weekly Briefing for a round-up of our content from the past seven days.

Just enter your email below:. Out of the actors concerned about coal overcapacity, one towers over the others in terms of heft: the supervisor of state-owned assets, SASAC.

A leaked file on power-industry debt, reported by Reuters , proposed radical reorganisation of the sector to improve its financial performance. It suggested merging the good and bad assets of various firms, along with closures at power plants totalling dozens of gigawatts of coal capacity.

Given its overview of the financial losses and distress already affecting the sector after excessive coal-capacity expansion, SASAC might be expected to resist another surge in coal power underwritten by the same companies.

Yet even if the 14th five-year plan targets another coal boom, it could end up falling short due to economic and financial constraints. There is a parallel in the 12th five-year plan. This created major overcapacity in the sector, but still fell far short of the target set for coal-power growth. Such an outcome would, however, create significant uncertainty, both for the domestic power industry and the international community. None of this will be easy for China.

The country has made little progress on reducing emissions, according to recent reports from organizations including the International Energy Agency. Seasoned climate negotiators are watching what China does with coal today — not just the pledges it makes that are 10 or even 20 years in the future. The U. President Joe Biden announced ambitious new climate plans. The world will expect both to commit to measurable actions ahead of the United Nations climate summit in November.

Countries are expected to strengthen their pledges this year — hopefully enough to keep global warming in check. I worked in both the George W.

Bush and Barack Obama administrations and have been involved in climate change issues for several years. For the first time in several years however, it did not fund any coal projects in the first half of China is also the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter and is heavily reliant on coal for domestic energy needs. Mr Xi mentioned promises made last year about China achieving peak emissions before and then transitioning to carbon neutrality by The US Climate Envoy John Kerry welcomed the announcement, saying in a statement that he was "absolutely delighted to hear that President Xi has made this important decision".

I welcome President Xi's commitment to stop building new coal projects abroad - a key topic of my discussions during my visit to China," Alok Sharma said on Twitter. This is the announcement that China has increasingly been expected to make. For nearly a decade now coal fired power stations have been a key feature of Xi Jinping's awkwardly named Belt and Road Initiative of foreign investment.

However, the reality is that the number of these projects has fallen significantly. Crucial details will need to be cleared up; when will this take effect? Typical power plants in China now run at less than half of their rated capacity, further weakening profits.

Its data shows that some GW of planned capacity was cancelled in alone, though some previously on-hold schemes were also revived. This expansion can be seen in the slider, below. Other analysts and indicators suggest this increase may be in doubt. The rate of coal capacity growth in India has more than halved since , as the chart above shows, and there are signs it is slowing ever further.

In , coal-fired electricity output fell in India for the first time in at least three decades. The IEA has dramatically cut its forecasts for Indian demand, due to slower than expected electricity demand growth and the falling price for renewables. The economic status of most of these plants has been or is now in the process of being resolved. Meanwhile, prime minister Narendra Modi has announced even more ambitious targets for renewable expansion. If they are met, they would further limit the case for new coal capacity.

The current pipeline includes 37GW under construction, half of which is on hold , most often due to financial problems, according to Global Energy Monitor. Market conditions, on the other hand, continue to favour gas-fired power plants and renewables.

There are no plans for new US coal capacity. The EU and UK are also seeing a wave of coal retirements. Along with Canada, European countries are leading global efforts to phase out coal. This includes several recently built plants.

Poland has said it would not build new coal beyond what was already under construction. One of these schemes, Ostroleka C, could now be switched from coal to gas. Research in suggested all EU coal plants should close by , in order to meet the goals of.

Together, these countries are building 47GW of new plants and have another 87GW planned, though the latter figure is some 38GW lower than it was two years ago. Many of the projects in poorer nations are being financed or built by China , Japan and South Korea.

Campaigners see a fast-developing Asia as the key risk for coal expansion. There are mixed signs for coal in many of these countries. Environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi said in February that rules on coal plant exports would be reviewed.

Major plans for new coal capacity are opposed by communities, NGOs and some newspapers. More than a third of the new plants planned at the start of have been cancelled or shelved. He continues:. Ambitious plans to expand gas power in Vietnam may replace some coal plants, Bloomberg reported in March The country now has more utility-scale solar capacity than Australia.

In Indonesia, the government continues to plan for a major coal expansion. Earlier in , however, Reuters reported that the country planned to replace some 11GW of old coal and gas plants with renewables. Notably, however, less than 2GW of a total pipeline of 33GW of new coal is currently under construction — and that pipeline has shrunk by 10GW in two years.

Another country with major plans is Egypt , which has no coal plants and no domestic coal deposits. Note that none of the 13GW of planned capacity has moved beyond the earliest phases of development, with none entering the permitting process, none yet permitted and none being built.

It is building 5GW of new coal with plans for 6GW more. Unusually, South African heavy industry favours renewables over continued coal growth. New coal would be much more expensive than the alternatives, separate research suggests.