China Planning 226 GW of Coal Power, About 40% of the World’s Expansion

A day before the global climate strike, a Global Coal Exit List (GCEL) database was released today in Berlin and made worrisome findings for China and India. On September 20, millions of people around the world are calling for an end to the use of coal and other fossil fuels.

The database includes the largest operators of coal-fired power plants and the largest coal mining companies, as well as companies that generate more than 30 percent of their revenues or their electricity from coal as well as any companies that plan to develop coal mines, coal-fired power plants or coal infrastructure.

Overall, GCEL covers 89 percent of the world’s coal-fired power plant production and nearly 87 percent of the world’s coal-fired power plants.

The data shows that India and China’s plan for coal power expansion are troubling.

The 4 countries with the most coal companies are China (164), India (87), the United States (82) and Australia (51).

The world’s largest steam coal producer is Coal India Limited. Last year, the company produced 534 million tonnes or 8 percent of the world’s steam coal production. The second-largest coal producer is the China Energy Investment Corporation with 510 million tons. The world’s largest coal-fired power plant developer is India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). It plans to build 30,541 MW of new coal capacity.

The world’s largest operator of coal-fired power plants is China Energy Investment Corporation with 175,000 MW of installed capacity. Also, the country with the largest absolute coal expansion plans abroad is China. Chinese companies are planning to build 54 GW of new coal power capacity in 20 countries. This accounts for 24 percent of total coal power plant capacity planned by Chinese companies.

One of the largest suppliers of coal-fired power plants is General Electric and a major manufacturer and outfitter is Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction from South Korea.

The 10 countries with the largest coal-fired power plant expansion plans are: China (226,229 MW), India (91,540 MW), Turkey (34,436 MW), Vietnam (33,935 MW), Indonesia (29,416 MW), Bangladesh (22,933), Japan (13,105 MW), South Africa (12,744 MW), the Philippines (12,014 MW) and Egypt (8,640 MW).

In the European Union, Poland is the country with the largest expansion plans for coal-fired power plants (6,870 MW).

Japan is the country with the highest share of coal-fired power plant construction projects abroad. Of the 30 GW of coal capacity planned by Japanese companies, 51 percent are being developed abroad

Other Highlights

About 400 of the 746 companies on the Global Coal Exit List expand its coal activities.

Investors managing total assets of nearly USD 10 trillion use one or more of the exclusion criteria of the GCEL to remove coal companies from their portfolios.

New coal-fired power plants with over 579 GW planned: new coal-fired power plants are still planned or under construction in 60 countries around the world, an increase of almost 29 percent.

Only 27 companies account for half of the world’s installed coal power plant capacity.

BlackRock is the world’s largest institutional investor in coal-fired power plant developers. In December 2018, BlackRock held over USD 11 billion in stocks and bonds of such companies.

Glencore, the eighth largest coal producer in the world, has recently received praise from climate-sensitive investors for setting a cap on 150 million tons for its annual coal production.

One of the most bizarre developers of coal-fired power plants is “Shine Energy” from Australia which describes its mission as “Helping Australia transition to a renewable future”. Shine Energy is planning to develop a 1,000-MW coal-fired power plant, “one of North Queensland’s oldest coal mining towns to become a glorious former”, according to an Australian news agency.

To access the data, click here