In accordance with a report titled “Boom and Bust 2020:Tracking the Global Plant Pipeline” 47.4 GW coal fired power projects at different stages were cancelled in India in 2019 which reduced total under development coal capacity to 66 GW. The report was prepared jointly by Global Energy Monitor, Greenpeace International, the Sierra Club, and Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The report is the fifth annual survey of the coal plant pipeline.
- In terms of Pre-construction, Construction, All Active Development, Shelved, Operating, and Cancelled (2010–2019), China has topped the list followed by India.
Global front:
On the Global front, there is a16% year-on-yeardrop in capacity under construction and in pre-construction development, and a 66% drop since 2015 globally.
- Global coal power plant development declined for the fourth year running in 2019. A total of 13 gigawatts (GW) of capacity construction has been delayed in 2020 due to the coronavirus.
- Globally, the amount of power generated from coal in 2019 declined by 3% compared with 2018.
Key Points:
Pre Contruction Developments: The pre-construction development continued to shrink. It has dropped globally from 1,152.5 GW in 2015 to 299.6 GW in 2019, an 82% decline. In India it fell by half from 60.2 GW in 2018 to 29.3 GW in 2019.
Coal power generation: It fell 3% globally compared to 2018, with maximum fall in the EU (–24%) while India saw a decline of 3%. The global average utilization of coal power plants fell to 51%.
Growth in Construction: In 2019, 4 new coal plants were constructed in India which produced8.8GW of new coal power capacity as a whole. The new plants areAdani Godda (Jharkhand),Patratu(Jharkhand),Udangudi (Tamil Nadu), and Yadadri(Telangana) which received substantial financing from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) or the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), both of which fall under Ministry of Power and are set to merge in 2020.
Growth in coal fleet: Despite the decline in development, the coal fleet grew by 34.1 gigawatts (GW) globally in 2019. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the newly commissioned capacity was in China (43.8 GW) and 12% in India (8.1 GW). In total, 17 countries commissioned new coal power in 2019.
Retired coal power capacity: The amount of retired capacity globally in 2019 fell slightly below 2018, due to a drop in retired capacity in China as well as in India.
Capacity under construction: It fell globally 16% from 237.5 GW in 2018 to 199.6 GW in 2019, and by 37% since 2015, when construction was 315.4 GW. About half of capacity currently under construction is in China (99.7 GW), followed by 18% in India (37 GW).
