A coal barge in Shanghai, China. By AJancso @ Shutterstock.com
While America continues to weaken its electric grid by shutting down coal power to cut emissions, China is ramping up coal use. Reuters reports:
China plans to accelerate the approval of new coal mines and fast track the construction of already approved mines to support its baseload energy supply during demand spikes, Liang Changxin, an official from the National Energy Administration (NEA), said on Wednesday.
Peak energy demand is expected to exceed 1.36 billion kilowatts this summer, representing a “significant increase on last year”, Liang added.
Some provinces could face power cuts this summer as a result, the NEA official warned.
China’s energy consumption typically spikes in the summer months due to household demand for air conditioning.
This, combined with a related slump in power from hydro sources due to low rainfall, led to a wave of blackouts across southwest China last year.
Officials have repeatedly stressed the role of coal as a “ballast stone” in the energy mix amid a national energy security drive, even as the country attempts to transition toward a greener, renewables-led power system.
Read more here.
