Greenpeace warns of China's excess power capacity

China stands to waste Rmb900bn ($134.6bn) of capital expenditure on power plants that have been given the green light despite adding to overcapacity, Greenpeace warned. According to the Financial Times, an economic slowdown combined with intensive investment in coal, hydro wind and solar power capacity in the past few years has depressed utilization rates in China, especially for coal-fired power plants and wind farms. New targets for renewable energy and nuclear power as well as plans for further development of large coal deposits in the north and north-west mean that power generators face even greater competition in the future. According to Greenpeace, an additional coal-fired power plant per week will come on stream for at least the next four years.