Louise Sallé, edited by Solène Leroux 07:02, April 26, 2022

The Global Energy Monitor unveils this Tuesday its report on the world production of coal-fired power plants in 2021. This has increased, in particular due to China which has opened power plants and launched several constructions, while the rest of the world is giving up little this highly polluting energy.

DECRYPTION

The Global Energy Monitor, which draws up an inventory of coal-fired power plants around the world, unveils its 2021 report on Tuesday. The production of this energy, which emits a lot of greenhouse gases, has thus increased by 18.2 GW l 'last year.

And more than half of the new energy capacity commissioned is Chinese, or 25.5 GW, a figure fortunately attenuated in the total net increase -18.2 GW- thanks to plant closures in the rest of the world.

This result isolates China, but worries about the climate.

The studies of the International Energy Agency and the reports of the IPCC, the UN climate experts, are formal: not a single coal-fired power plant must be built if the States want to respect the climate objectives set by the Paris Agreement, i.e. limit global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2100. 

New power plants in the works, after the shortages of 2021

China also had on its soil in 2021, and for the first time in history, more than half of the coal capacities under construction in the world.

The country has in fact launched numerous projects, with a total power of 91.5 GW, under the impetus of the provinces. 

These demanded more power plants, after suffering major electricity shortages in 2021. The price of coal then soared, because of environmental standards imposed by Beijing and because demand had suddenly resumed. rising, with the post-Covid economic recovery.

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For Lola Vallejo, director of the climate program at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), there is a real gap between the Chinese government's green display and the reality on the ground.

"Decisions to launch new power plants are more orchestrated at the provincial level", explains the researcher.

"The Chinese government has sent signals that it wants to reduce its coal consumption. But the authorities have remained quite ambiguous, quite timid, and have made no commitments in the very short term."

The European Union, a very good student

Coal production is therefore largely driven upwards by China, while the rest of the world is gradually abandoning this fossil fuel.

The European Union stopped a record volume of 12.9 GW in 2021, with the largest volumes in Germany (5.8 GW), Spain (1.7 GW), and Portugal (1.9 GW). 

"Spain and Portugal have been very proactive. Portugal, in particular, manages to phase out coal nine years before the date it had set", underlines Lola Vallejo.

"Spain, for its part, is making major negotiations with industrialists to completely get out of the production and use of coal," she continues.

"Not only coal, but also gas, are very unviable fossil fuels for Europe, in the long term, whether from a climatic and geopolitical point of view."

Finally, the United States also reduced its production.

This reduction is estimated between 6.4 and 9 GW.

However, this pace is insufficient in view of their climate objectives, which would require a 25 GW reduction in annual production between now and 2030.