Shandong province (China) plans to cut coal capacity

The Environmental Protection Bureau (SEPB) of the Shandong province of China has released a 3-year plan against pollution. Among its main objectives, the SEPB plans to reduce coal production by 10% by 2020, from 156 Mt to 140 Mt, to boost gas consumption to 15.8 bcm by 2020 by increasing LNG imports and ensure that LNG reaches an 8% share of energy consumption in the province. In addition, it plans to raise gas imports from other provinces and targets a 70% share of clean energy sources in rural areas originates by 2020.

The plan is a part of a national strategy against pollution released by China’s State Council, whose main pillars are to cut coal consumption, incite electric vehicle sales and shut outdated steel and coke facilities.

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AEMO expects Australia to phase out coal power in the next 20 years

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has unveiled the new Integrated System Plan for the National Electricity Market, which forecasts the likely changes that will be occurring over the next 20 years across the domestic power market. Despite the anticipated electrification of the transport sector over the next 20 years, electricity grid demand will flatten, due to the growth of solar rooftop PV installations and energy storage coupled with energy efficiency efforts.

Existing coal-fired power plants that generate around 70 TWh/year - one third of the NEM's demand - will continue operating until the end of their operational life (by 2040 at the latest) as it would be uneconomical to retire them before the end of their operational lifespan. Replacing them later on with renewables - whose costs are falling -, gas-fired capacity, distributed generation capacity and energy storage systems (including pumped-storage) would be more cost efficient.

The domestic power grid will shift to a more decentralised system model: 28 GW of solar, 10.5 GW of wind, 17 GW of storage and 500 MW of flexible gas-fired generation will be set up along with a significant upgrade of the domestic power transmission system.

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