China accelerates approval of coal power construction amid energy supply worries – research

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China approved the construction of 8.63 gigawatts (GW) of coal power in the first quarter of this year, nearly half the amount seen in the full year of 2021, as energy security trumps climate concerns, environment group Greenpeace said on Wednesday.

Rising energy supply worries, driven in part by a wave of power outages last September, have triggered an increase in approvals, with provincial authorities aiming to resolve “shortcomings in local power generation”, Greenpeace said in a research report, citing approval documents.

“Energy security has become a sort of code word for coal, rather than for reliable supply of energy,” said Wu Jinghan, climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace in Beijing.