CHINA-ECONOMY: NEW COAL MINES

A Reuters report ( August 6) said that approvals issued by the Chinese government for new coal mine construction in China have surged in 2019.  China's energy regulator gave the go-ahead to build 141 million tonnes of new annual coal production capacity from January to June, compared to 25 million tonnes over the whole of last year. National Energy Administration (NEA) documents showed the projects included new mines in the regions of Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Shanxi and Shaanxi and are part of a national strategy to consolidate output at dedicated coal production "bases", as well as expansions of existing collieries. The research unit of the China State Grid Corporation last month forecast that total coal-fired capacity would peak at 1,230-1,350 gigawatts (GW), which would mean an increase of about 200-300 GW. A study published earlier this year also suggested China's targets would allow the construction of another 290 GW of coal-fired capacity in the coming years.   

(Comment: Beijing aims to raise the share of non-fossil fuels in its overall energy mix to 15% by the end of next year from around 14.3% currently, and to 20% by 2030. It cut the share of coal to 59% last year, down from 68.5% in 2012. Chinese coal output rose 2.6% in the first-half of 2019 to 1.76 billion tonnes.)






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