China approved another 114 gigawatts (GW) of coal power capacity in 2023, up 10% from a year earlier, with the world’s top carbon polluter now at risk of falling short on climate targets after sanctioning dozens of new plants, research showed on Thursday, reports Reuters. In an effort to bring climate-warming emissions to a peak by 2030, China has vowed to “strictly control” new coal-fired generation capacity, and has also connected record numbers of new wind and solar plants to its grid.
But after a wave of electricity shortages in 2021, China also embarked on a coal power permitting boom that could slow its energy transition, according to analysis by US think tank Global Energy Monitor (GEM) and the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
China has approved 218 GW of new coal power in just two years, enough to supply electricity to the whole of Brazil.