China will allow coal-fired power plants to be built through at least 2027, according to new guidelines from the government, which also call on generators to ensure they’re able to meet gaps in supply from intermittent renewables.
Construction will be allowed in places that lack existing capacity, or the ability to balance electricity supply from wind and solar projects, the National Development and Reform Commission and other agencies said in an action plan dated March 26 and published online on Monday.
Power firms will be expected to deliver coal plants that can operate safely while rapidly adjusting power supplies to balance-out renewables generation. Some new plants will be required to run less than 20% of the time, according to the plan, while older generators should have minimum utilization rates of 25% to 40%.
New plants must also burn coal more efficiently, and their carbon intensity should fall 10% to 20% from the levels seen in the current fleet.
The plan highlights the continued importance the fuel plays in China’s energy system, even as President Xi Jinping has called for consumption to begin declining from next year. China mines and burns more than half the world’s coal, and last year started construction on the most new plants in at least a decade.
Even as the nation builds more coal generators, it’s been using less of the fuel. Output from thermal power plants fell 5.8% over the first two months of the year, as a mild winter and slowing economy affected power demand, and renewables increased their share of generation.
