New China coal plant approvals jump again

China’s call to boost coal supplies following the power shortage last year and subsequent surge in approval for coal-fired plants has climate experts worried about the nation’s carbon-neutral goals, reports the South China Morning Post.

Provincial governments across China approved plans to add a total of 8.63 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired power plants in the first quarter of 2022 alone, nearly 50% of the capacity approved in the whole of 2021, according to a new report from Greenpeace East Asia on Wednesday.

The nods for coal-fired plants gathered pace in the fourth quarter of last year, after China experienced a nationwide power shortage since September. In 2021, China only okayed 18.55GW of coal capacity, a year-on-year decrease of 57.66%, according to the environmental group. However, more than 11GW was okayed in the fourth quarter alone.