R. K. Singh, the Indian Power Minister, said that India is facing a possible energy supply problem in the coming months due to coal shortages and a post-pandemic surge in demand.
Steag, the German power plant operator, was forced to close its Bergkamen A plant due to shortages of hard coal.
China’s northeastern region is being hit hard by electricity shortages brought about by limited coal supplies.
China’s President Xi Jinping said at a UN meeting that China will stop building new coal-fired power plants abroad.
The USA has announced that it has joined efforts to end export credits for coal-fired power generation projects. The initiatives are sponsored by the OECD.
As part of the Indian government’s attempt to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply from thermal power projects, captive coal mine production has been directed to meet 85 per cent of their targets in a week, and state electricity distribution companies procuring power from imported coal-fired projects have been asked to meet their demand from such plants within two weeks.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced that it is in the final stages of conducting feasibility studies on coal plant acquisition in three Southeast Asian countries, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam.
South Africa’s Eskom has announced that it will shut down 8-12 GW of coal-fired power plants – around 30 per cent of its current installed capacity – over the next 10 years.
Uniper, owners of the Ratcliffe-on-Sour coal-fired power plant in the UK, has announced that the first unit of four will close in September 2022, two years ahead of the previous schedule.
NRG has announced that it plans to close the last operating unit at Indian River coal-fired power plant in Delaware, USA, by June 2022.