Climate Politics
China May Boost Coal Power Plant Building Amid Energy Crunch
- Engineering firm expects 270 GW of new capacity by 2025
- Chinese utilities have been shifting to cheaper renewables
Heavy machinery operates at a coal stockpile in Taicang, China.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
China may add more new coal-fired power plants in the next few years than previously expected after a spate of economy-pinching power crunches.
The world’s biggest energy user is expected to add 270 gigawatts of thermal capacity in the five years through 2025, China Energy Engineering Corp., the country’s top energy engineering conglomerate, said in an online briefing on Thursday. That would be more than the 100 to 200 gigawatts estimated in 2020 by a senior researcher at State Grid of China Corp. Energy Research Institute.