{"id":6470,"date":"2021-03-29T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/?p=6470"},"modified":"2021-12-31T14:59:59","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T06:59:59","slug":"greenpeace-warns-of-high-risk-for-further-waves-of-new-coal-plant-approvals-in-china-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/press\/6470\/greenpeace-warns-of-high-risk-for-further-waves-of-new-coal-plant-approvals-in-china-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenpeace Warns of High Risk for Further Waves of New Coal Plant Approvals in China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEIJING, 29 March 2021 \u2013 <\/strong>New research from Greenpeace East Asia found that 46.1 gigawatts (GW) of new coal capacity was approved in 2020 — more than the previous three years combined — with 12 provinces or autonomous regions pushing through new coal plants after the central government\u2019s Net Zero climate commitments, with about 8.1 GW approved in the fourth quarter of 2020.<\/p>\n\n

Zhang Kai, deputy program director for Greenpeace East Asia in Beijing, said:<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWith an influx of new coal approvals, China\u2019s coal country provinces are falling farther behind. It could deepen the divide between the developed eastern seaboard and industrial coal country. While one lays the groundwork for new tech and energy, the other digs deeper into the coal pit. Provincial governments will struggle to close this gap on their own. They need policy support and financial support. Low-carbon transition funds should be on the political agenda as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

While local Development and Reform Commissions (DRCs) make the final decision on their energy investments, they normally do so under the guidance of the central government. There was a dip in new coal capacity approvals in some provinces during the fourth quarter of 2020, after Beijing\u2019s September Net Zero commitment, but not all. Notably, Inner Mongolia\u2019s DRC, which approved 5,680 megawatts (MW) and 5,000 MW in Q2 and Q3 2020, respectively, approved no new coal capacity in Q4 2020.<\/p>\n\n

Meanwhile, the National Energy Administration (NEA) removed provinces from \u201cred\u201d and \u201corange\u201d alerts for coal overcapacity, which bears serious financial and environmental risks. In 2017, 27 provinces had \u201cred\u201d or \u201corange\u201d alerts for upcoming overcapacity risks. Despite a spree of new-approved coal plants over the past two years, only six were on alert in 2020.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cCoal overcapacity is a drag on renewable energy development and a ticking time bomb for provincial economies. As China\u2019s energy transition accelerates into 2060, coal plants will see more excess capacity and more competition. Already shrinking rates of return will flop. They\u2019ll become stranded assets. They\u2019ll strand the local economy along with them. And they will expose China\u2019s financial system to risk. Stopping the expansion of coal power plants will secure the economy and enhance the credibility of China\u2019s national climate commitments.\u201d Zhang said. <\/p>\n\n

The 14th Five-year energy plan needs to restrict coal power capacity controls within 1,100 GW to prevent the risk of an extended coal capacity approval spree that could imperil China\u2019s climate commitments and credibility there. Meanwhile, the NEA\u2019s overcapacity pre-warning document should restrict all provinces from further approving coal plants and coordinate and assess provinces\u2019 approval process moving forward. Provincial DRCs need to carefully examine their power sectors\u2019 mid- and long-term energy transitions, especially when it comes to capital windfalls from COVID stimulus.<\/p>\n\n

NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

English summary available here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Full briefing (in Chinese) available <\/a>here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Media Contacts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

August Rick | Greenpeace East Asia, Beijing | august.rick@greenpeace.org<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace International Press Desk, pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org, phone: +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New research from Greenpeace East Asia found that 46.1 gigawatts (GW) of new coal capacity was approved in 2020 — more than the previous three years combined — with 12 provinces or autonomous regions pushing through new coal plants after the central government\u2019s Net Zero climate commitments, with about 8.1 GW approved in the fourth quarter of 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":6473,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[18,22],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-6470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-energy","tag-coal","tag-reduce-air-pollution","p4-page-type-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6470"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7177,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6470\/revisions\/7177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6470"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=6470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}