China sharply ramped up coal production in 2022. Last year, the country approved the construction of four times more coal-fired power plants than in 2021.
In total, the country gave permission to increase coal-derived energy capacity by 106 gigawatts in 2022. That is the largest capacity increase since 2015, according to a study published Monday by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
The construction of new Chinese coal-fired power plants, which together produce about 50 gigawatts of electricity, has already started. “China remains the striking exception in light of the global decline in coal-fired power plant construction,” said a GEM analyst. “The speed at which projects moved from the permit phase to the construction phase in 2022 was extraordinary.”
The wave of approvals for coal-fired power plant construction follows severe power shortages in China last summer. Then, due to extreme drought, the necessary hydropower reservoirs dried up and the heat increased the demand for air conditioning. As a result, many of the recently approved projects are intended to provide basic “support” capacity to minimize the risk of power outages, the CREA and GEM report said.
However, many new coal-fired power plants are being built in regions that already have excess capacity, say the report’s authors. China’s power supply problems, they say, can be better addressed by improving the reliability and efficiency of its existing power grid.
