Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 31

AsiaElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsiaElec
capacity between January and June.
is compared to 25 million tonnes over
the whole of 2018.
e projects included new mines in the
regions of Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Shanxi and Shaanxi that are part of a national strategy to consolidate output at dedicated coal production “bases,” as well as expansions of existing collieries, document from the National Energy Administration (NEA) said.
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.
It has also promised to adopt the “highest possible ambition” when it reviews its climate change pledges next year, with one government think tank recommending China imposes a mandatory cap on coal consumption in its 2021-2025 ve-year plan.
But while smog-prone regions like Hebei and Beijing have already cut coal use and shut hundreds of small mines and power plants, China is still allowing for signi cant increases in coal production and coal- red power generation.
India’s coal capacity to grow by 20% by 2022
India’s coal capacity is likely to reach 238GW by 2022, said chief engineer at the country’s Federal Power Ministry, Ghanshyam Prasad.
Indian Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi previously said annual coal demand had risen
by 9.1% during the year to March 2019, noting the gure hit 991.35 million tonnes, driven primarily by utilities, which accounted for three-quarters of total demand.
e anticipated growth is likely to a ect e orts to cut emissions and could risk worsening already poor air quality.
India’s electricity demand rose by 36% in the seven years up to April 2019, while coal- red generation capacity during the period rose by three-quarters to 194.44GW.
Pralhad Joshi said despite the growth rate in thermal capacity outpacing electricity consumption in the last few years, more coal- red plants will still be needed in the future to meet growth.
He added: “If we have to meet demand and address the intermittencies we have with solar and wind, we have no choice but to keep depending on coal-based generation in the near future.”
Queensland releases five areas for coal exploration
e Queensland Government is opening more land in the coal-rich Bowen Basin for exploration to fuel the next round of mining jobs.
Tenders have opened for ve areas with high potential for steel-making coal; and thermal coal for electricity and industry use.
e new blocks also have access to
the Bowen Basin’s existing rail and port infrastructure at Hay Point and Gladstone
to get the coal from pit to port cheaper and faster.
“Exploration is the lifeblood of the resources sector, and the thousands of jobs and business opportunities it provides, particularly in regional Queensland,” Queensland’s Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Anthony Lynham said.
“Australia and the rest of the world need metallurgical and pulverised coal injection (PCI) coal as essential ingredients in manufacturing steel.
“ at’s steel for building homes, and to manufacture the vast structures of wind turbines and components for the burgeoning electric vehicles industry for the renewables sector. e world needs our metallurgical coal as part of the transition to renewables.”
e ve areas made up of 147 sub-blocks are one 60 square kilometres area north-east of Moranbah with potential for metallurgical coal; three areas of six square kilometres
east of Blackwater for thermal coal and/
or PCI coal; and one 380 square kilometres area south-east of Emerald with potential for thermal coal.
Bidding companies have to o er cash with their bid. e preferred tenderers must also meet environmental, native title and other approvals, as well as land access requirements before on-ground exploration can start.
NUCLEAR
Japan to close remaining reactors at Fukushima
TEPCO has announced plans to decommission its Fukushima Daini nuclear plant, located a few kilometres south of the Fukushima Daiichi plant where three reactors melted down a er an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
TEPCO’s board approved the plan to decommission the four nuclear reactors at Daini plant. It means all 10 nuclear reactors in the northeastern Fukushima prefecture will be decommissioned.
e prefectural government had previously urged the operator to dismantle the Daini plant, saying its existence has hampered reconstruction e orts, according to Kyodo news agency.
e Daini plant, which started its commercial operation in 1982, only narrowly avoided a major accident at the time of the disaster at the Daiichi.
TEPCO said it will take more than four decades to dismantle the four reactors at
Week 31 06 •August•2019
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