Report highlights China’s coal plant spree is accelerating: A research report by Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air reveals that in the first half of 2023, provincial authorities approved 52,000 megawatts (MW) of new coal plant capacity with a further 41,000 MW of projects announced. The report says 8000 MW of previously shelved projects have been revived as the Chinese coal plant building spree gathers momentum with new coal construction and announcements outpacing levels endorsed in the two previous five-year plans. Construction began on 37,000 MW of new coal plants in the first half of the year. China now has 243,000 MW of coal plant capacity currently permitted and under construction, which, if completed, would increase coal capacity by 23 per cent. The central government’s current policy allows new coal if it is “supporting grid stability” or “supporting the integration of variable renewable energy”. The report argues the bulk of the new projects are not in provinces that need new capacity to meet demand peaks or support existing and planned wind and solar capacity. The report urges the central government to reject or revoke permits for projects that breach the government’s existing policy and strictly control new proposals. (South China Morning Post, Global Energy Monitor and Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air)

Jakarta air pollution study finds cars contribution overstated: An analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) of air pollution data for Jakarta between 2020 and 2023 reveals the government’s focus on private cars and scooters and promoting the option of working from home is misplaced. CREA found that during the COVID-19 lockdowns, there was no decline in air pollution levels; on weekends, when commuting declines significantly, there is only a marginal improvement in air quality. In a recent media briefing, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry focussed on a single coal plant downwind of Jakarta, but CREA argues it “deliberately neglected” coal plants upwind of the city. CREA analysis of pollution data found coal plants contributed between five and 31 per cent of PM2.5 fine particle air pollution on individual days. CREA described the focus on personal transport as a “gimmick” intended to “distract attention from its failure to tackle the major sources of pollution systematically at the regional level”. CREA urged action to address power plants, industry, transportation and open burning of waste and agricultural residues. (Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air)

US utility may delay coal closures to help Microsoft data centre: We Energies, a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group, has refused to rule out delaying the closure of units at the South Oak Creek coal plant due to the likely establishment of a $1 billion Microsoft data centre. We Energies has previously committed to closing two 299 MW units at the 1240 MW South Oak Creek coal plant by May 2024 and two slightly larger units by the end of 2025. A consultant’s report on Microsoft’s project estimated that electricity demand for the centre could be up to 752 MW. On a conference call for investors in early August, WEC confirmed it is investigating whether the data centre could affect the timing of coal unit closures. Clean Wisconsin spokesperson Ciaran Gallagher said We Energies’ comments highlighted how climate goals set by utilities aren’t binding, and the state lacks policies to regulate utilities’ five-year capital works plans. We Energies said its five-year plan will be released later this year. (WPR)

France extends life of remaining coal plants, with conditions: The French Energy Transition Ministry has announced the country’s two remaining coal plants – the 1260 MW Cordemais coal plant and the 647 MW Emile Huchet power station – will be allowed to operate until the end of 2024. The ministry said the extension for the plants is to guarantee sufficient capacity is available over the coming winter. Prolonged outages at French nuclear plants and the impact of reduced Russian gas supplies led to the government reopening the Emile Huchet ahead of last winter. French President Emmanuel Macron pledged in 2017 to close the country’s four remaining coal plants by the end of 2022. The ministry has cut permissible operating hours for the coal plants from 2500 hours last year to 1800 this winter and increased the cost for each tonne of carbon dioxide emitted. The two coal plants contributed 0.6 per cent of French electricity in 2022. (BNNBloomberg, Euractiv)

Germany’s final coal exit auction undersubscribed: Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has revealed the last auction for 542 MW of compensated coal unit closures attracted bids for just 280 MW. The auction was only open for small units of less than 150 MW capacity, resulting in the winning bids settling between 45,000 and 85,000 euros per MW. The units must close by March 2, 2026. As a result of the auction being undersubscribed by 262 MW, BNetzA has ordered the closure of EnBW’s 780 MW HLB7 unit at the Heilbronn power station. Through the seven rounds of auctions, utilities agreed to close 10,700 MW of coal capacity. BNetzA will now order the uncompensated closure of the oldest units in Germany to meet annual coal capacity reduction targets from 2027 until the current legislated end date target of 2038. The current government has agreed with RWE to accelerate coal closures in western Germany to 2030, but LEAG, which operates in the eastern states, has rejected earlier closures. (Clean Energy Wire, Federal Network Agency [German])

Australian coal company blocked questioning of lab over coal tests: Australian coal company Terracom has confirmed that it blocked PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) from interviewing a representative of ALS, a coal testing laboratory at the centre of a scandal over the export certification of coal samples. In 2020, a Terracom whistleblower alleged the company pressured ALS to falsify coal export certificates to overstate calorific values. ALS later confirmed that over 13 years, between 45 per cent and 50 per cent of all coal export certificates were “manually amended without justification”. In a raid on Terracom’s office, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) obtained a full copy of the PwC report. ASIC is suing Terracom and key executives for breaches of the Corporation Act, alleging the company failed to take reasonable steps to ensure statements to the Australian Stock Exchange were not false or misleading. Terracom insists it was not under “any obligation to make reasonable enquiries of ALS” and is contesting the ASIC case. (Australian Financial Review [Paywall])

South African group challenges Sasol’s bid for pollution exemption: Just Share has urged the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, to reject Sasol’s request for an exemption from sulphur dioxide emission limits. The standards were announced in 2010 to come into effect in 2020. Ahead of the 2020 compliance deadline, Sasol sought and was granted a one-off five-year extension. Sasol operates 17 boilers at its Secunda coal-to-oil plant, which consumes about 33 million tonnes of coal annually. Just Share argues that granting Sasol’s application would violate the Constitution and two key environmental laws. Just Share also notes that the then-minister changed the sulphur dioxide emissions standards without public consultation in 2020 to double the permissible pollution level. In a submission to the minister, Just Share said South Africa’s current sulphur dioxide standard is ten times weaker than India’s and about 28 times weaker than Chinese limits. In mid-July, South Africa’s National Air Quality Officer, Dr Patience Gwaze, rejected Sasol’s request for a further extension. (Just Share)

Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has cut the royalty on coal from 2500 (US$30) to 2200 Afghani (US$26.5) per tonne and customs duty from US$45 to $30 per tonne to support coal exports to Pakistan.

Australia: South African coal company Thungela Resources has bought an 85 per cent stake in the Ensham coal mine in Queensland as part of its geographical diversification strategy.

Australia: Whitehaven Coal hoards cash for a possible bid for BHP’s Daunia and Blackwater metallurgical coal mines.

Germany: RWE has begun to remove operating wind turbines to allow the extraction of 15 to 20 million tonnes of lignite from the Garzweiler mine in North Rhine Westphalia.

Indonesia: Chinese companies are building new coke ovens to cater for the export market. The projects use imported Australian coal.

Indonesia: Chinese companies are building new coke ovens to cater for the export market. The projects use imported Australian coal.

US: In the first half of 2023, coal generation fell 28 per cent compared to the same period in 2022. Coal generated just 15 per cent of US electricity in the first half of 2023.

US: Regulators have approved a 12,000 acre (4856 hectares) expansion of San Miguel Electric Cooperative’s San Miguel lignite mine in Texas.

US: The Virginia Department of Energy has given a US$1.7 million grant to covert a former coal mine site into an industrial park, including for data centres.

Vietnam: Four workers died at a mine operated by Vang Danh Coal, a part of state-owned Vinacomin. Police and regulators have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident.

India’s renewables deployment helps meet record power demand: India’s summertime electricity demand hit record highs in June with peak demand of 223,000 MW, up 11,000 MW from the year before. According to data from the Grid Controller of India, total electricity demand in June was 140 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in June, up from 134 billion kWh the year before. Electricity generation in June from wind farms was up 16 per cent to 1.5 billion kWh, solar was up by 14 per cent to  1.1 billion kWh, and coal generation was up 3 per cent to 3.3 billion kWh compared to the year before. Renewables capacity has increased by 33,000 MW or 34 per cent since mid-2021.  In the first half of 2023, domestic coal production increased by 46 million tonnes or 10 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year. (Reuters)

Indian regulator investigation of Adani transactions hits tax haven hurdle: In a Supreme Court filing, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) reported that “it remains a challenge” to finalise the details of beneficial shareholders of 12  foreign portfolio investors that are significant shareholders in Adani Group companies. Some investors are located in five tax havens. In March, the Supreme Court requested SEBI investigate the Hindenburg allegations against the Adani Group and report findings to a six-member court-appointed panel. SEBI said that it has completed its investigations into 22 of 24 transactions. SEBI officials anonymously told Reuters breaches of regulations had been found but were “technical” infractions and likely to only result in fines. In early June, SEBI flagged tightening disclosure requirements of offshore funds that hold significant stakes in Indian companies. SEBI’s consultation paper on the proposed change flags some “high-risk” offshore funds that have invested more than half of their assets in a single entity in Indian stocks. (Reuters, The Scroll, Economic Times)

Report finds Indian banks barely moving on coal policies or climate risks: A report by Climate Risk Horizons, an Indian think tank, found that of the 34 Indian banks assessed — 17 private sector banks and 12 public sector banks — none have undertaken climate risk assessments on their portfolios. The think tank found that Indian banks are highly exposed to climate-related financial risks, such as from the power utility sector, but most have made little progress in developing policies to exclude coal from their portfolios. Only two banks — Suryoday and Federal Bank — have coal exclusion policies. The report found that public sector banks are the “most exposed to the conventional energy sector”, and only 10 banks disclose their funding of renewable energy projects. In line with global trends, the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India have begun to encourage climate risk assessments and greater disclosure of investments in green finance. (Mongabay, Climate Risks Horizons [pdf])

Eskom disputes minister's claim on impact of coal plant closure: Speaking to a class on “the future of energy transition leadership”, South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, claimed that Eskom had decommissioned the Komati power station “because of commitments in the Paris Agreement” and that its closure contributed to load shedding. The Komati plant comprised nine 100 MW units commissioned between 1961 and 1964, then mothballed between 1990 and 2008 before gradually being recommissioned between 2008 and 2014. Eskom told News24 that seven of the nine units were closed for technical and financial reasons as they would have required “significant investment”. In response to Mantashe’s claim the closure of the plant contributed to load shedding, the utility said that since May 2020, only the 114 MW unit 9 was operating, and from March 1 to 31 October 2022, on average, contributed only 75 MW to the grid. Eskom is establishing a 150 MW solar project, a 70 MW wind farm, and 150 MW battery storage on the site. During the visit to South Africa by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Eskom signed cooperation agreements with China Energy Engineering Corporation to upgrade existing coal plants and with China Energy for work on coal units and solar and wind projects. (Daily Maverick, Daily Maverick)

Sasol writes off South African coal-to-oil plant: The South African government-owned Sasol has written off 35 billion rand ($1.87 billion) on its Secunda coal-to-liquids plant. Sasol operates six coal mines that produce about 40 million tonnes annually, with most supplied to its Secunda plant and several million tonnes exported through the Richards Bay coal terminal. In 2022, Sasol announced it aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030, partly by switching from coal to gas. However, Sasol’s current gas supply from its Pande and Temane offshore gas fields in Mozambique will plateau later this decade. It is pursuing the development of further gas fields but has ruled out imported LNG as too expensive. The company aims to have 1200 MW of power purchase agreements from renewable projects for its Secunda plant by 2030. Sasol produces about 40 per cent of South Africa’s fuel and about one-third of its jet fuel demand. (News24, Sasol [Pdf])

BlackRock retreats from supporting shareholder ESG resolutions: BlackRock, which manages US$9.4 trillion and is the world’s largest investment manager, backed just 26 out of 399 or 7 per cent of proposals cent related to climate change and social issues in the year to the end of June. In the preceding year, BlockRock supported 22 per cent of resolutions proposed. BlackRock and other funds have faced sustained criticism from conservative media and legislative attacks from US Republicans for supporting environmental, social and governance concerns about companies such as those in the fossil fuel sector. BlackRock’s increasing reluctance to support shareholder resolutions prompted the New York City Comptroller, Brad Lander, who manages US$250 billion in five pension funds, to accuse BlackRock of capitulating to a “misinformed and shortsighted war against ESG at the behest of special interests”. BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street hold between 15 and 20 per cent of the shares in major S&P 500 companies and are significant investors in coal mining companies and power utilities. (Financial Times)

Risky Millions: Whitehaven’s methane potential, Ember, August 17, 2023. (Pdf). (The Executive Summary of the report is here.)

This 20-page report finds Whitehaven Coal, the largest Australian pure-play coal company, is on track to double methane emissions by 2030 if proposed new mines are approved. The report estimates the company’s mines could emit up to 1.2 million tonnes of methane between now and 2050.