Olive growers defeat the Turkish government’s coal mine plan: The Turkish parliament’s Energy Commission has rejected a proposal by the governing AKP party to allow coal mining in or next to olive groves. The provision was opposed by a coalition of olive growers, civil society groups and opposition legislators. The proposal was first rejected by parliament in November 2020, with the AKP-led government enacting energy regulations two years later to allow mining to proceed in olive groves. These regulations were rejected by the 8th Chamber of the Council of State, the highest administrative court in Turkey, that ruled the regulations were potentially against the public interest. (Olive Oil Times)

Thousands protest village demolition for German mine expansion: Thousands of people attended a protest against the imminent demolition of the village of Luzerath to allow the expansion of RWE’s Garzweiler lignite mine in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. Following a weekend protest in the village, hundreds remained behind to occupy the site to block the mine expansion. The expansion of the Garzweiler mine is opposed by a coalition of groups, including All Villages Must Stay, Last Generation and Fridays for Future, with the Greens support for the demolition of Luzerath criticised by the Left party. In 2022 the federal government, which includes Green MPs, agreed with the state government to close lignite plants by 2030, spare five other villages but allow the demolition of Luzerath, which is now owned by RWE. The federal government has also deferred the close of several coal plants to offset reduced generation from power stations reliant on Russian coal and gas. (BBC, Deutsche Welle)

Legal challenge launched against approval for new UK coal mine: Friends of the Earth UK has announced it has filed a legal challenge against the decision by Michael Gove, the UK Secretary of State  for Levelling Up, granting planning approval for West Cumbria Mining’s proposed Whitehaven coal mine. FOE argues the decision failed to account for the significant climate impacts of the mine. Another group opposing the mine, South Lakes Action on Climate Change, has also announced it will appeal the decision. Environmental groups, the opposition Labour Party and the Greens criticised the decision to approve the mine. (BBC, Friends of the Earth UK, South Lakes Action on Climate Change)

As US coal bailout case looms, FirstEnergy fined for concealing funds: FirstEnergy has agreed to pay a US$3.86 million fine for failing to provide Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) auditors with all details of lobbying. FERC said FirstEnergy had concealed US$81 million in payments, including those to former Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Larry Householder and the former Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Sam Randazzo. Householder and Matt Borges, a former FirstEnergy lobbyist and ex-chair of the Ohio Republican Party, face racketeering charges over legislation to bail out two nuclear and two coal plants. The trial will begin on January 20. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed three former Republican legislators to testify on allegations that Householder pressured them to support HB6, a bill to bail out the coal and nuclear plants and gut the state’s energy efficiency standards. (Energy News Network, Toledo Blade, Energy and Policy Institute)

Teck lawyer helps draft Montana’s request to weaken pollution standard: Montana’s Board of Environmental Review voted 5-2 in December in favour of Teck Resources, a Canadian coal company, and Lincoln County drafting a letter to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting the revocation of a limit of 0.8 parts per billion of selenium in Lake Koocanusa. First Nations tribes, the US Government and Canadian and US environmental groups have campaigned for stricter pollution controls at Teck Resources’ Elk Valley coal mines in British Columbia which pollute the Kootenai River and flow into Montana and Idaho. In 2020, after five years of research and public consultation, the Board of Environmental Review approved the 0.8 parts per billion for selenium, a standard agreed to by the EPA. The EPA’s federal standard permits selenium concentrations of up to 1.5 parts per billion in freshwater but allows states to adopt stricter limits. The letter from the Board of Environmental Review, which now comprises primarily new members, argues it made a “legal error” by adopting a standard stricter than the federal standard. Derf Johnson from the Montana Environmental Information Center said it was shocking that Teck Resources was “basically co-opting an institution of our government to weaken a water quality standard”. (The Narwhal, Montana Free Press)

Canadian province blocks release of airborne pollution data: The Alberta government has refused to release data compiled by two senior government scientists on the pollution of an alpine lake by windblown dust from open-cut coal mines in the Elk Valley in British Columbia. The Canadian Press filed a Freedom of Information request seeking a copy of a presentation on the data to senior Alberta Environment staff in November. However, only a heavily redacted slide deck containing already public information was released. One slide in the presentation proposed additional lake and snow sampling. A paper by the scientists published in Environmental Science and Technology last year reported a dramatic increase in selenium and cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic compounds in an alpine lake about 10 kilometres away from the mine. (CBC)

Eskom CEO survives attempted poisoning: The CEO of Eskom, Andre De Ruyter, has reported to police that someone attempted to murder him by providing him with a cyanide-laced cup of coffee at Eskom’s headquarters on December 13. The day before, De Ruyter had submitted his resignation to Eskom chairman Mpho Makwana, but this was not made public until December 14. De Ruyter had been the target of a campaign to force him out as he attempted to pursue investigations into corruption at the public utility, increase renewable generation to take pressure off the increasingly unreliable coal fleet and deal with the utility’s dire financial situation. The murder attempt was reported to the police on January 5. De Ruyter said he resigned because his position became untenable after the Minister for Energy, Gwede Mantashe, publicly accused Eskom management of “actively agitating for the overthrow of the state” by not ending the rolling load-shedding affecting the power system. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed he will move responsibility for Eskom from the Ministry for Public Enterprises, run by former finance minister Pravin Gordhan, to Mantashe’s Ministry of Energy. Mantashe has been a vocal critic of renewable generation and a champion of the coal sector. (EE Business Intelligence, Financial Times)

Australia: Scientists are concerned that coal sludge from Peabody Energy’s Metropolitan Colliery has affected the health of native frogs in the Royal National Park near Sydney.

Australia: Investors have filed a shareholder resolution seeking clarification on how Glencore’s planned thermal coal production is consistent with the company’s support for the Paris Agreement.

India: The Adani Group has completed the takeover of NDTV, one of India’s oldest independent private television news networks.

India: The Ministry of Power has requested that power utilities import six per cent of their coal requirements to September.

Pakistan: Generation from the three coal plants reliant on imported coal slumped in late 2022 due to high prices.

South Korea: A fire broke out in the 380 megawatts (MW) integrated gasification combined cycle unit at the Taean power plant.

Taiwan: Parliament passes the Climate Change Response Act, which imposes a carbon tax on major emitters and sets a net-zero emissions target of 2050.

Turkey targets increased renewables but without curbing coal plans: Turkey’s National Energy Plan for 2035 estimates the country’s electricity demand growth could accelerate substantially and result in electricity generation capacity growing from the current 100,000 MW to 189,700 MW by 2035. The plan proposes renewables could account for 74.3 per cent of the planned additions. Ufuk Alparslan, from Ember, a climate policy think tank, said the plan is contradictory in suggesting a slight increase in coal capacity over the period and that it will also decline year by year. “I would have expected at least an announcement in the plan that no new coal capacity would be commissioned,” he said. (Balkan Green Energy News, Anadolu Agency [Turkish])

Vietnam agrees on a Just Transition strategy, but details still to come: Vietnam and a coalition of countries led by the European Union and the UK have concluded a Just Energy Transition Partnership agreement with US$15.5 billion to fund the development and implementation of a plan to cap and then phase out unabated coal generation. The deal proposes a detailed plan will be finalised by November to guide the long-term transition plan. The agreement suggests greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector will peak in 2030 at “no more than” 170 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), down from the current target of 240 MtCO2e. The agreement proposed reducing Vietnam’s coal fleet capacity from 37,000 MW to 30,200 MW by 2030 and a path to “phasing out unabated coal-fired power generation after those dates”. The Global Coal Plant Tracker estimates Vietnam had 23,377 MW in coal capacity in July 2022, with a further 7380 MW under construction. The agreement proposes increasing the role of renewables from 36 per cent to 47 per cent by 2030 and commits to reviewing the targets every two years. (Vietnam Briefing, UK Government, Argus)

Indications China has dropped the ban on Australian coal imports: With thawing diplomatic relations between China and Australia, the Chinese Government’s unofficial ban on Australian coal imports appears to have been lifted. Reuters reports that traders report that China Energy Investment Corporation has placed an order to import Australian coal, the first request since China’s ban came into effect in 2020. In the absence of Australian coal, China increased imports from Russia and Indonesia while Australia boosted sales to Japan, India and Europe. Wood Mackenzie analyst Rory Simington said the change might have little impact on the coal market as Australian high-ash thermal coal sells for US$150 per tonne, which is little different from domestic Chinese production. Australian metallurgical coal is currently only US$10-15 per tonne cheaper than domestic Chinese production. (Reuters, SXCoal, Australian Financial Review [paywall])

Indian committee urges the government to pursue overseas coal mines: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel has recommended the Indian Government and state-owned Coal India restart investigations into buying overseas coal projects to secure energy supplies. The committee said low-ash metallurgical coal supplies are a priority as there is limited domestic production leaving India reliant on imports for the growing steel sector. Several previous attempts by Indian companies and public sector utilities to buy overseas coal projects in Mozambique, Indonesia, and Australia have either collapsed, been mired in controversy or been major loss-makers. Imported thermal coal is significantly more expensive than domestic coal and generates electricity at a far higher cost than new renewables. (LiveMint, Standing Committee on Coal, Mines, and Steel)

Cost of power for Bangladesh from Adani’s Godda project increases: Bangladesh’s Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Nasrul Hamid, has revealed the cost of electricity from Adani’s Godda Power Plant will be about 17 taka per kilowatt hour (kWh; US$0.17 per kWh), about two cents per kWh higher than forecast in December by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. During an initial test run of part of the Godda plant, coal ash settled on thousands of assembled workers and dignitaries. The Daily Star reported that Hamid’s “black coat turned white”. (DailyStar)

Coal India flags coal prices need to increase to cover increased costs: After 18 months of negotiations, Coal India has signed a memorandum of understanding with four unions for a one-off 19 per cent increase in wages for non-executive staff. The one-off payment applies from June 30, 2021, with the 238,000 staff covered by the agreement also eligible for annual increases up to June 30, 2026. The deal will only be effective when negotiations on other benefits have been concluded. Coal India’s chairman, Pramod Agrawal, has flagged that an increase in the price of coal is “essential” to cover the increased investment in new equipment and infrastructure after capping prices over the last five years. Coal India aims to produce 700 million tonnes of coal by the March 30 end of its financial year. Power prices will be under pressure after a recent Central Electricity Regulatory Commission order allowing Indian power utilities that own overseas coal mines to pass through the full cost to distribution utilities. The order was made following a request by Tata Power to cover its 1600 MW Mundra plant but will also apply to other companies such as Adani Power and JSW Energy. (Informist, Economic Times, Reuters)

US coal plant slated for demolition after CCS project floundered: The Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) has applied for approval to demolish the San Juan Generating Station this year. The decision to demolish the plant follows four years of unsuccessful negotiations with the City of Farmington to take the project over and keep it operating with the addition of a carbon capture and storage plant. This plan was developed with Enchant Energy but was contingent on large government grants and attracting other funding. Two units at the San Juan Generating Station were decommissioned in 2017, with the final two units retired in 2022. However, the plant’s demolition was delayed by the possibility that the City of Farmington and Enchant Energy would buy the plant and continue operations. PNM and seven of the other eight co-owners declined to transfer the plant to Farmington because of the lack of financial guarantees to protect them against future liabilities. In late December, the city announced it had abandoned plans to buy the plant after an arbitration panel rules in favour of PNM’s proposal to demolish the plant. (Albuquerque Journal, NM Political Report)

Colombia part 2 | The Global Energy Transition Podcast, The Global Energiewende, December 20, 2022. (Part 1 of the podcast is here.)

In this podcast, the German Greens MP Kathrin Henneberger discusses what she learnt from visiting front-line coal communities in Colombia and some of the challenges with a transition away from fossil fuels.