Major role of coal plants in Asia

KUALA LUMPUR: Coal-fired power plants will remain a major part in Asia’s power generation, at least for the time being, as the world is moving towards a greener and more sustainable economy.

Coal use appeared to be in a long-term decline before the Covid-19 pandemic, but lockdowns around the world and economic upheaval drove an increase in new coal projects in 2020, particularly in China.

In Asia, the construction of new coal-fired stations is occurring in an overwhelming way, with China accounting for 52% of the 176 gigawatts (GW) of coal capacity under construction in 20 countries last year.

According to a report published by Global Energy Monitor in April this year, the total coal power capacity in development fell sharply again in 2021, by about 13% to 457GW from 525GW, a record low for new plants under development.

The number of countries planning new plants also fell to 34 countries from 41 at the beginning of 2021.

“I am not sure. I would call it much of a transition because a transition would imply that coal usage is declining and gas usage is increasing. However, this isn’t the case.

“Since 2005, both global coal and natural gas demand have risen globally,” Moody’s Analytics director Chris Lafakis told Bernama.He said in Asia, consumption of both gas and coal have increased, and the percentage of new energy consumption from gas, instead of coal, has lagged the global average with China being a leader within the Asia-Pacific region.

 “Whereas the gas percentage of the combined energy increase has been 55% gas in Asia. For China, it has been 82%. So, even though China’s coal consumption continues to rise, it is rising at a much slower rate than the broader Asian region,” he added.