Editor's Note
Two themes dominate coal-related news of the last week: public resistance to pollution from mines and power plants; and the challenge of ensuring an orderly transition away from coal power. In Romania, the country’s largest utility is facing public opposition to the dispossession of villagers for lignite mine expansions and is resisting moves to reduce coal plant pollution. In India, the Modi Government is seeking to further weaken the scope of new pollution standards that came into effect in 2015. In Australia, a company has been fined US$3.4 million for a failed underground coal gasification project.
As the need for a transition away from coal grows there are signs of both progress and resistance. In South Africa, the new government has flagged that a new power plan will shortly be released raising hopes it will be less coal-centric and more renewables-friendly than its predecessor. In Australia, Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine has been written down in value while the Australian Government’s own commodities forecaster has flagged a decline in the global market. In Sweden, work is set to commence later this year on a pilot plant for a new technology to produce steel without relying on metallurgical coal as a key input. In the UK, a new report sets out how the country is likely to skip the “gas bridge” as the remaining coal plants are closed before 2025.
However, in Germany the likely composition of a proposed coal phase-out commission has raised concerns that climate goals will be relegated to be a secondary consideration. In Sri Lanka, a major union is waging a vigorous campaign to reinstate expensive new coal plants in the country’s power plan.
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India’s government is slowly killing its pollution rules to benefit coal plants
The Modi Government has been progressively whittling away new air pollution standards for coal plants that came into effect in December 2015 and is now seeking to persuade the Supreme Court that they shouldn’t apply to plants under construction, writes Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava in Scroll.in.
The hidden costs of coal in Romania
The CEO of Complexul Energetic Oltenia, Romania’s largest coal company, wants the government to delay the implementation of new European Union pollution standards even though public concern is growing about the impacts of the company’s plants and lignite mines, write Claudia Ciobanu and Mihai Stoica in Al Jazeera.
Adani’s forlorn hope that the global coal market will save its Carmichael mine
While Adani pins its hopes for its beleaguered Carmichael coal mine in Australia on growth in the Asia-Pacific market, even the Australian Government’s own resources forecaster paints a gloomy picture, writes Bob Burton in EndCoal.
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Multi-million fine for pollution by Australian UCG project: Linc Energy has been fined A$4.5 million (US$ 3.4 million) after being found guilty on five charges of causing serious environmental harm between 2007 and 2013 at its underground coal gasification project in Queensland. The company is currently in liquidation and unlikely to pay the fine, leaving taxpayers to cover the cost of rehabilitation which has been estimated to be as high as A$80 million (US$60 million). Five directors of Linc Energy are due to face a committal hearing in July on charges of failing to ensure the company complied with environmental laws. (ABC News, ABC News) UK coal phase-out set to leap gas ‘bridge’: Since the end of 2016 the UK Government has entered into contracts for new power generation capacity to be commissioned during 2018–2021 to cover the closure of five coal plants with a capacity of 11,200 MW. A report for WWF by Sandbag argues the remaining two plants, which have a combined capacity of 2800 MW, are likely be replaced with interconnectors, batteries, demand management measures and small peaking gas generators. Drax and RWE have flagged plans to build major new gas plants on their old coal plant sites. (Guardian, Sandbag) Alarm that German coal phase-out commission may put climate last: Germany’s coalition government is expected to announce on May 23 that three ex-politicians from the main lignite-mining states will head the commission tasked with setting a coal phase-out end date and developing a transition strategy. However, environmentalists and clean energy advocates are concerned that the likely appointees may baulk at meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments and unnecessarily prolong the life of the country’s fleet of operating coal and lignite plants. Germany has 50,400 MW of existing plants with one 1100 MW plant currently under construction. (Clean Energy Wire, Clean Energy Wire) Police arrest over 500 Indian farmers over lignite mine protest: Police have arrested over 500 farmers protesting against the establishment of three proposed lignite mines to supply the part-built 500 MW Bhavnagar plant in Gujarat. An estimated 1000 people gathered to protest against Gujarat Power Corporation Limited’s (GPCL) occupation of 1415 hectares of land it bought before 2005 but which was subsequently reoccupied and farmed by displaced villagers. The farmers have launched legal action to have the land acquisition declared void due to GPCL’s delay in occupying the land. GPCL is proposing to acquire a further 1565 hectares once the plant is fully commissioned. (Times of India, Indian Express, Hindustan Times) Sri Lankan regulator under mounting pressure to reinstate coal plants: The Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved a new energy policy supporting a push to reinstate coal plants in the Least Cost Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan. In 2017 the independent Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) rejected the inclusion of coal plants proposed by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) on the grounds that they were more expensive than gas and renewables. The CEB Engineers’ Union has launched industrial action in support of overturning the coal-free plan and called for the sacking of PUCSL’s Director General, Damitha Kumarasinghe. Sri Lanka’s President, Maithripala Sirisena, has said he would support the construction of coal plants using Japanese technology. (Daily Mirror, Sunday Times) US judge overturns Oakland ban on coal exports: A US federal court judge has overturned Oakland City Council’s ban on coal exports from a proposed terminal at the Port of Oakland. The legal case brought by port developer Phil Tagami was funded by subsidiary of Bowie Resource Partners, which wants to export 5 to 10 million tonnes of coal a year to the Asian market and has the option to lease the proposed coal export terminal. Tagami argued the Oakland ban would breach his right to develop the port and disputed the potential public health impacts of coal dust. The council is reviewing the decision while the Sierra Club described it as an “unfortunate setback” but just “one step in what we expect to be a long legal process.” (Bloomberg, Sierra Club) “The coal industry in Asia also tends to ignore the pollution elephant in the room. The idea that public pressure may halt coal projects or force cutbacks in its consumption seems alien to many in the industry, despite evidence that this is exactly what is happening in China, and has already happened in Europe,”
writes Reuters columnist Clyde Russell after attending the Coaltrans Asia conference in Indonesia.
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Australia: NSW Water Office warns KEPCO’s proposed Bylong mine would dry up Bylong River and nearby creeks. Japan: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies abroad to source 100 per cent renewable power. UK: Protestors aim to prevent Pont Valley mine ahead of June 3 deadline. US: Republican Congressman proposes bill to exempt Navajo Generating Station from the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act. Vietnam: Ex-boss of Petro-Vietnam fails to overturn 13 year jail sentence for “economic mismanagement” of coal plant. Zimbabwe: Chinese steel company Sinosteel signs agreement for coal-bed methane power plant. |
South Africa’s draft energy plan for public comment: South Africa’s Minister for Energy, Jeff Radebe, has advised that a revised Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for the power sector will be made available for public comment in the near future. In December 2017 the previous Minister for Energy said the IRP had been approved by Cabinet even though it had not been made available for public comment. The secret 2017 IRP was widely considered to be designed to promote new nuclear capacity and private coal plants favoured by the Zuma Government. The draft IRP is being revised to include the latest cost estimates for generation technologies and to reflect lower power demand. Radebe said the final IRP will be submitted to Cabinet for approval on August 15. (Mining Weekly) Adani writes down value of Australian coal project: Adani Enterprises has announced a US$13.3 million writedown on the value of the Carmichael coal mine held by its Adani Mining subsidiary. A spokesman for the company said the writedown was due to legal challenges, regulatory delays, the need to redesign parts of the project and higher labour charges. The project has also been delayed by Adani’s inability to attract finance for the US$12.4 billion project, with over 26 banks refusing to fund the project. (Bloomberg, Adani Enterprises) Swedish company announces ‘green steel’ pilot plant: Hybrit, a consortium comprising Swedish steelmaker SSAB, the iron pellet supplier LKAB and electricity generator Vattenfall, have decided to proceed with the construction of US$2.5 million pilot plant to test the production of carbon-free steel. The pilot plant is expected to run until 2024 and will use renewable electricity and hydrogen instead of metallurgical coal or gas. The consortium estimates that with current coal, electricity and carbon prices the new process would produce steel 20–30 per cent more expensive than steel from conventional blast furnaces. (Euractiv) Colombian coal sales to Asian market pick up: As US and European thermal coal prices and demand have fallen, Colombian exporters have increased sales into the Asia-Pacific market through the recently upgraded Panama Canal. Despite the high cost of fees for using the canal, higher thermal coal prices in countries such as South Korea can still make it more attractive than the 45- to 50-day voyage time for 150,000 tonne Capesize ships around South America. South Korea, which imported 109 million tonnes of thermal coal in 2017, has also increased imports from Indonesia, Canada and South Africa as it seeks to diversify away from an overreliance on Russian and Australian suppliers. (Platts) Anti-divestment front group outed: Shortly after the anti-divestment Institute for Pension Fund Integrity launched its website proclaiming it wanted to get “politics out of pensions” the site registration was transferred to Fred Wollenberg, an executive with the Bergman Group, a PR firm which has worked for Exxon. After the connection between the website and the Bergman Group was revealed the website registration was changed once more and made anonymous. Wollenberg has also worked with another PR firm, the DCI Group, which last year was revealed as being behind Protect Our Pensions, another anti-divestment group. (Oil Change International) |
Coal to Clean: How the UK phased out coal without a dash for gas, WWF & Sandbag, May 2018. (Pdf)
This 45-page report details how the UK’s phase-out of coal is likely to be completed without the construction of further large-scale gas power plants but instead with a mix of demand management, batteries, interconnections and small peaking gas plants. |
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