Chinese government has ordered 103 planned coal plants to be canceled

Enlarge / BEIJING, CHINA - NOVEMBER 29: A Chinese man wears a mask as he waits to cross the road near the CCTV building during heavy smog on November 29, 2014, in Beijing, China. (credit: Kevin Frayer)

This week, China’s Energy Administration issued a directive to cancel planning and construction on 85 coal plants in the country, according to The New York Times. An additional 18 were ordered to be canceled late last year. The 103 plants represent an astounding 120GW of capacity that would have come online for the country in the coming years.

The coal plants on the chopping block span 13 provinces, mostly in China’s northern and western regions. The Times reports that China’s Energy Administration was quite specific on which plants must halt development, but it’s unclear whether locals will immediately adhere to the directive—some of these plants have been under construction for 10 years already, and local officials may be reluctant to abandon those projects and fire the construction workers.

The cancellation is indicative of an economic imbalance that external environmental trackers have noted for a while—China has over-invested in coal power plants, with its existing capacity “being used less than half the time” according to Carbon Tracker. The International Energy Agency (IEA) notes that China accounts for more than 900GW of coal-sourced capacity, making it the biggest energy-related carbon polluter in the world. The country has promised to limit its coal-based capacity to 1,100GW by 2020, and this new directive will help China reach that goal.