China May Expand Coal Power Plant Building Amid Energy Crunch

(Bloomberg) — China may add more new coal-fired power plants than previously planned in the next few years after a spate of economy-squeezing power crunches.

The world’s biggest energy user is expected to add 270 gigawatts of thermal capacity in the five years through 2025, China Energy Engineering Corp., the country’s top energy engineering conglomerate, said Thursday in an online briefing. That would represent a significant expansion on the 100 to 200 gigawatts estimated in 2020 by a senior researcher at State Grid of China Corp. Energy Research Institute.