China energy expert sees coal power slowing from 2011

China’s boom of coal-fired power plants is likely to slow after next year as excess capacity and then expanding renewable and nuclear energy sources kick in, a senior energy policy analyst said in an interview.

Jiang Kejun, of China’s state-run Energy Research Institute, told Reuters the forecast slowing also reflected longer-term shifts in the country’s energy use, as industrial growth slows while transport and household energy consumption expand.
“After 2010, the coal [power] industry will have a very slow growth rate,” said Jiang, whose research focuses on how his fast-growing nation can squeeze greenhouse gas emissions while keeping up economic development in coming decades.

“The increase in power generation will mainly come from nuclear and renewable energy and natural gas-fired power plants, so newly installed coal-fired power plants will be very limited after 2010.”
Slowing expansion of coal power would mark a big shift for China, which has used the cheap but heavy polluting fuel to stoke its double-digit growth.

The coal boom is not over yet. This year and next, China is likely to install more than 50 gigawatts of new coal power generation each year, Jiang said.

But a power generation capacity overhang, new energy sources and decelerating heavy industry growth are likely to reshape the sector from 2011 onwards, Jiang added.

Guardian