Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 32 2021

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China’s coal stocks fall as summer demand rises
CHINA
CHINA’Scoalinventorieshavedroppedbyupto 26% year on year in August as demand for power rose and severe weather caused transport prob- lems, the country’s state media said.
Reuters reported that coal stocks held by mining companies were 26% below the August 2020 level, while inventories at key ports had dropped 21% year on year.
Inventories at major power plants have dropped by between 21% and 26.7% year on year. State media did not give actual inventory figures, although it did say that these were near historic lows.
The government has encouraged the coun- try’s major coal producers, such as China National Coal Group and Jinneng Holding Group, to increase production. Beijing also plans to release more coal from the state reserve.
The low stock levels meant that spot thermal coal prices at northern ports stood at near record highs of 1,050 yuan ($162.44) per tonne.
Coal is still the country’s dominant source of power, although its market share is falling. In 2005, 72% of China’s power came from coal, fall- ing to 56.8% in 2020, according to government data. China aims to bring this number below 56% in 2021.
However. state media cited an official at the China Coal Industry Association as saying that in the first half of 2021 Chinese coal consump- tion stood at 2.1bn tonnes, 10% more than in the first half of 2020
ThisriseincoaldemandcomesasBeijinghas been pusging forward with a policy of closing old coal-fired capacity and building modern coal power plants. Beijing has also set 2060 as its target date for net zero.
This means that Beijing is looking to reduce coal consumption in the power sector, but in a slow and measured way.
President Xi Jinping has said that China would only begin reducing its coal consumption in 2026, while emissions would peak in 2030.
In April, a Chinese climate change official defended the country’s coal consumption in the power sector, saying that it was a major source of employment and a predictable and reliable source of energy.
Li Gao, the director-general of the Environ- ment Ministry’s Climate Change Department, admitted that the country’s power plants would not run at full capacity in future.
Li said that China was in the midst of an energy transition and that looking ahead, coal would not play such a dominant role.
China is continuing to open new coal-fired power plants. Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said in February that the country had commis- sioned 38.4 GW of coal-fired power in 2020, compared to 11.9 GW turned on in the rest of the world.
China currently has 247 GW of coal power capacity under development.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 32 11•August•2021