Page 5 - AfrElec Week 17 2022

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

reached, the report warned. retired a record 12.9 GW in 2021, with the most
“The coal plant pipeline is shrinking, but retirements in Germany (5.8 GW), Spain (1.7
there is simply no carbon budget left to be build- GW) and Portugal (1.9 GW). Portugal became
ing new coal plants. We need to stop, now,” said coal free in November 2021, nine years before its
Flora Champenois, lead author of the report. targeted 2030 phase-out date.
The emissions created by burning coal mean The report also found that Japan, South Korea
that the rate of decline is nowhere near enough and China had all pledged to end public support
to meet the IPCC’s net-zero goals for 2030. for new international coal plants, followed by a
The IPCC has said that coal use needs to con- commitment from all G20 countries ahead of
tract by 75% by 2030 for the world to remain COP26. The one good takeaway from the report
on the 1.5° C pathway. But even if coal use is that with these pledges, there is essentially
eventually declines, current pledges by govern- no significant international public financier
ments are not enough to keep pace with a 1.5° remaining for new coal plants.
C scenario.
Key milestones in 2021
India and the US The report still found much to be positive about,
In global terms, the global coal fleet shrank for with the number of coal plants effectively given
the fourth year in a row. In terms of addition, a close-by date nearly doubling to 750 coal plants
56% of the 45 GW of newly commissioned coal (550 GW).
capacity was in China. China’s share of coal In the OECD, 180 GW of existing coal capac-
under development increased in 2021 to 55% ity, or a little more than a third, is scheduled
(251 GW), meaning that a single country now to close by 2030 in line with the Paris climate
accounts for over half of the capacity under agreement. The amount would increase to two-
development in the world for the first time. thirds of capacity if announcements made by the
India posted the second-largest figure for United States and Germany result in a 2030 coal
new coal capacity, with 6.4 GW, while the rest phase-out.
of the world combined accounted for 13.3 GW. By contrast, less than 10% of non-OECD coal
In absolute terms, the world still has more capacity is scheduled to close by 2050, the year
than 2,400 coal-fired power plants operating in that coal should be phased out to hold warming
79 countries, with a total of nearly 2,100 GW of below 1.5 degrees, according to the IPCC.
capacity. An additional 176 GW of coal capacity At the end of 201, 176 GW of coal capacity
is under construction at more than 189 plants, was under construction in 20 countries, which is
and 280 GW is in pre-construction at 296 plants. slightly less than in 2020 (181 GW). China repre-
In 2021, the operating coal fleet grew by a net sented more than half (52%) of that capacity for
18.2 GW, a post-COVID rebound in a year that the first time, and countries in South Asia and
saw a slowdown in coal plant retirements. Southeast Asia about a third (37%).
The pace of the exit form coal did decline in In financial terms, the report warned that
some countries, most notably the US, where the power overcapacity and/or debt burdens are
amount of coal capacity retired declined for the growing in countries with coal under develop-
second consecutive year, from 16.1 GW in 2019 ment, like Bangladesh, Indonesia and Pakistan,
to 11.6 GW in 2020 and an estimated 6.4-9 GW highlighting the need to accelerate financial
in 2021. The European Union’s 27 member states and other support mechanisms to enable clean

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