New York Times - Michael Forsythe
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| Residents living near a coal-fired power plant in Shanxi, China, wear masks for protection from air pollution. Credit Kevin Frayer/Getty Images |
HONG
KONG — Coal-fired power plants have propelled much of China's economic
rise for decades, helping make the nation the world's biggest emitter of
greenhouse gases. Even with economic growth slackening, and other
energy sources taking hold, new coal plants have been added.
Now Beijing is trying to slow things down.
In
guidelines released on Monday, China halted plans for new coal-fired
power stations in many parts of the country, and construction of some
approved plants will be postponed until at least 2018.
The announcement,
by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National
Energy Administration, means that about 200 planned coal-fired power
generators — those seeking approval and those approved but not yet under
construction — may not be completed, said Lauri Myllyvirta, who
analyzes China's energy production for Greenpeace.
The
total of 105 gigawatts of power those plants would have been able to
produce is considerably more than the electricity-generating capacity of
Britain from all sources.
More Plants, but Less Coal
Although China is by far the largest single consumer of
energy from coal, and the country continues to build new coal-fired
plants at a rate not seen in a decade, coal consumption in China is
beginning to decline. On Monday, China announced new measures that would
halt the planned construction of about 200 new coal-fired power plants.
"That's
a big chunk of power," said Bob Hodge, a coal specialist with IHS
Energy, a consulting firm. "It's a lot of power. It's a heck of a lot of
power."
Electricity generated from fossil fuels like coal is the
biggest single contributor
globally to the rise in carbon emissions, which scientists say is
causing the earth's temperature to rise. Leaders from 175 countries,
including China, gathered in New York on Friday to sign the
Paris climate accord,
which aims to halt and eventually reverse the rise in carbon emissions,
keeping the increase in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius, or
3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
China,
by far the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gasses, is aiming to
reach a peak in carbon emissions by 2030. A recent economic slowdown,
policies to discourage coal-fired power plants near big cities, and a
huge investment in wind and
solar energy capacity helped reduce
coal use in China last year.
But even as coal becomes unpopular in China, the country's biggest state-owned electricity generators are
adding new coal-fired power plants
at a pace not seen in a decade, said Mr. Myllyvirta of Greenpeace,
which is acknowledged as an authoritative analyst of China's energy
production. Such plants add to existing overcapacity, he said.
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| A coal miner in Liaoning Province, China. An economic slowdown, policies to discourage coal-fired power plants, and a huge investment in wind and have helped reduce coal use in China. Credit European Pressphoto Agency |
The
announcement does not stop projects already under construction, which
amount to about 190 gigawatts of new coal-fired power generation, he
said.
"It's definitely a positive step, but it's not even enough to prevent the overcapacity from getting worse," Mr. Myllyvirta said.
While the curbs on new coal projects, if rigorously enforced, may help China meet its long-term goals on
climate change and air pollution, the primary motivation for the move appears to be short-term economic considerations.
In
the face of the slowest economic growth in a quarter-century,
electricity demand has fallen so sharply in China that some coal-burning
power plants are operating only 40 or 50 percent of the time.
Construction of
wind turbines and solar panels has also eaten slightly into the market share of the coal plants.
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| A coal-powered station in Shanghai. China is discouraging such plants near big cities and is pushing renewable energy sources, but its overall number of coal plants continues to grow. Credit Johannes Eisele/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
Yet
in China's highly regulated power industry, market signals are weak,
and planning and construction of new power plants had continued apace,
pushed forward by local governments eager for the construction jobs and
expanded tax base. With its new decrees, the central government seems to
be trying to halt the development of power plants that might well be
underused if they were built.
Mr.
Hodge, the consultant at IHS Energy, said that as of two weeks ago,
there were 1,200 new coal-fired plants on the drawing boards in 59
countries, mostly in Asia, and China was the single largest contributor.
"In
my opinion, if they needed the power, they would build them," he said
of China. "I think if you are Beijing, and you don't need the power, you
can delay them until you might need them. They are not scrapping them."
The
guidelines, dated March 17, state that 13 provinces and regions,
including top coal producers like Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, as well as
the southern economic powerhouse of Guangdong, should "strictly control"
new capacity, delaying the approval of new projects until after 2017. A
slightly longer list of provinces — 15, with considerable overlap —
were told to put off construction of approved projects that had not yet
broken ground.
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| A coal plant in Shanghai. Electricity generated from fossil fuels like coal is the biggest single contributor globally to the rise in carbon emissions. Credit Johannes Eisele/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
In
both instances, an exception has been made for projects aimed at the
"people's livelihood," a phrase that was not explained but may include
measures like providing steam heat to homes in wintertime.
The
government announcement also calls for an acceleration of the closing
of outdated coal-fired plants that use older, dirtier technology. But
China is adding about 1 gigawatt in coal-fired capacity a week, Mr.
Myllyvirta said, as companies that have easy access to loans from state
banks build new plants.
That
is in stark contrast to the United States, the world's second-biggest
carbon emitter, where it has become increasingly difficult to build new
coal-fired plants under the Obama administration.
Last year, almost 14 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity was
retired
in the United States, according to the Energy Information
Administration in Washington. At the same time, there are only six new
coal-fired plants on the drawing boards in the United States through at
least the next five years, with a total capacity of less than 2
gigawatts, according to the agency.
In
China, however, as coal prices drop, the big state-owned electricity
generators are benefiting because highly regulated electricity prices
have not fallen in tandem.
Because
of the political power of the coal industry and the falling price of
coal, larger percentages of wind- and solar-generated electricity are
not being put on the grid, a phenomenon called curtailment. To combat
this, the Chinese government has recently issued a directive for
operators of coal-fired plants to pay operators of wind and solar plants
whose electricity is not used, the Paulson Institute, a policy group
focused on China and based in Chicago that was founded by the former
Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson,
wrote last week.
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