Despite the damage caused to the climate, the planet still has projects for the construction or extension of coal-fired power plants in 34 different countries, especially in China, denounces the annual report of the Global Energy Monitor published on Tuesday.
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In total, the world, which has more than 2,400 coal-fired power plants in 79 countries — for a total of almost 2,100 gigawatts (GW) of production capacity — plans to increase its electricity production capacity by another 457 GW via new coal-fired power plant projects, says the report, while welcoming the overall trend towards a slowdown in construction, apart from last year.
“There are only 170 plants (89 GW) or 5% of the fleet in operation today, which are not affected by a phase-out date or a carbon neutrality objective”, indicates the report of the think tank. based in San Francisco, along with eight other international environmental organizations: Sierra Club in the United States, Kiko in Japan, Can Europe in Europe, Life in India, BWGED in Bangladesh, as well as Crea, E3G and SFOC.
In 2021, the fleet of coal-fired power plants in operation worldwide increased by a further 18.2 GW, a Covid-related rebound, the report said. China “continued to be the glaring exception to the current decline of developing power plants,” point out the authors.
Last year, more than half (56%) of the 45 GW production units commissioned were in China (25.2 GW), 14% in India, and 11% in Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia.
And, alone, China has almost as many opening projects (for a total of 25.2 GW of capacity) as the rest of the planet has closing projects (25.6 GW).
Uncertainties on Chinese funding abroad
The report denounces “the resumption of building permits” for coal-fired power plants in China in early 2022, enabled by a “rewrite of the country’s energy policy” which followed electricity shortages and rationing in more than half. provinces at the end of 2021.
In the rest of the world, the call made in Glasgow at the UN climate conference, COP26, by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, to abandon the construction of new coal-fired power stations to curb global warming, has “created an impression of momentum”: In all, 65 countries have pledged to stop building, 36 more than in January 2021.
Within the OECD, 86% of countries currently have no new coal projects underway. Six countries nevertheless formally continue to consider new projects: the United States, Australia, Poland, Mexico, Japan and Turkey, even if many of them “have no chance of seeing the light of day”, according to the authors.
For example, it is “unlikely” that the project supported in the United States by Donald Trump when he was president “will come to an end”. The report also considers that the planned 500 MW Polish plant in Leczna should not be built “given the European climate policy”.
In Africa, where the next international climate conference is to be held (COP27 planned in Egypt, editor’s note), 12 countries still have coal-related projects, three less than in 2021 (Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco and Djibouti) .
The report points out that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s commitment at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2021 to no longer finance the construction of coal-fired power plants outside China “renders many African projects obsolete”, with China being the main financial support for new plants on this continent.
But the authors are concerned to see Beijing carry out the contracts already signed: “To date, it is unclear whether China will cut the cord for the 56 power plants in project that its public banks and private companies plan to finance. “.