'The conflicts between development and environmental policies have come to a head with Xi's surprise announcement in September that China would accelerate its timetable for cutting emissions, reaching a peak before 2030 and achieving "net-zero" carbon neutrality before 2060.''After years of complaints from environmental advocates, China seems to be headed for an interagency showdown over the construction of new coal-fired power plants.
In a blistering report released on Jan. 29, the government's Central Environmental Inspection Team (CEIT) blasted the National Energy Administration (NEA) for allowing new coal power projects at a time when President Xi Jinping has pledged greater efforts to combat climate change.
Findings from the supervisory team's investigation were reported by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) and posted on both the MEE and NEA websites in what appeared to be a highly unusual "naming and shaming" attack on a government agency.
"Never before has a high-level central government agency been inspected and openly criticized for multiple 'failures' related to energy development," the environmental website carbonbrief.org said.
The CEIT investigators charged that the NEA had not put environmental protection "at a high level," leading to uncoordinated decisions on project approvals.
"New coal power capacity at key areas for air pollution was not strictly controlled, leading to what should be built was not built and what shouldn't was built," Reuters quoted the report as saying.
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In the history of coal plant approvals over the past decade, environmental groups have been warning since 2014 about the consequences of the central government's decision to devolve the approval authority for new projects to provincial and local governments as a way to speed development by cutting red tape.
The NDRC subsequently tried to slow down the wave of approvals as generating overcapacity rose and utilization rates fell to 50 percent or less.
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The conflicts between development and environmental policies have come to a head with Xi's surprise announcement in September that China would accelerate its timetable for cutting emissions, reaching a peak before 2030 and achieving "net-zero" carbon neutrality before 2060.
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In a November report, CREA estimated that China's operating fleet of coal plants should be reduced by 38 percent by 2030 in order meet Xi's net-zero goal.
"Instead, coal and power interests are pushing to increase the country's coal fleet into the 14th Five-Year Plan ..., potentially adding over 200 GW of new coal power at an estimated investment of U.S. $200 billion (1.28 trillion yuan)," the GEM report said.
Ultimately, the conflicts over economic and environmental policies come together at the top levels of the party and the government.
"I suspect that Xi and Han ... have become uncomfortable about the really bad optics of rising coal output and coal- fired power building that has been highlighted by the increasingly active climate community in China and outside," said Herberg.
"I would expect a bunch of coal-fired power projects to be cancelled soon," he said.'
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China's Energy Agency Rocked by Coal Power Report, February 19, 2021
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