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China’s power crisis

How China’s industrial supply chain may help give rise to the ‘artificial sun’

Could a recent breakthrough in nuclear fusion be the start of a new global race to dominate the ‘holy grail’ of clean energy?

After a recent breakthrough in nuclear fusion, experts are predicting the start of a race to dominate the ‘holy grail’ of clean energy

17 Jul 2024 - 12:04AMvideocam

Beijing urged to quell ‘fluctuations and volatility’ stifling renewable energy

28 Jun 2024 - 7:00PM

No global climate targets without China: German minister calls to give up coal

23 Jun 2024 - 6:38PMvideocam

China targets wasted production, taking aim at pollution and overcapacity

Four industrial sectors have been singled out – steel, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals, and building materials – with new capacity strictly prohibited or restricted in certain subsectors.

30 May 2024 - 7:00PMvideocam

Beijing’s new plan puts added emphasis on curbing pollution, reducing coal consumption and improving the consumption capacity of renewable energy. Photo: AP

Editorial | China seeks right mix for energy-intensive economy it yearns

Legislation finally being reviewed by Beijing not only addresses power generation and climate change, but also security and self-reliance amid rivalry with West.

8 May 2024 - 12:18AMvideocam

China’s draft energy law finally sees the light after 18 years in the making

The country’s top legislature will review the proposed framework designed to secure supplies and encourage the shift to low-carbon power.

20 Apr 2024 - 8:24PMvideocam

China’s new oil rig in South China Sea helps it drill deep for energy security

New deep-sea mobile operation can reportedly drill to a depth of 9,085 metres, a record for China as Beijing looks to rely less on imported oil and gas amid rising geopolitical uncertainties.

15 Apr 2024 - 9:01PMvideocam

China’s new oil rig, the Enping 21-4 A1H wellhead platform, can produce 700 tonnes of oil per day, according to state media. Photo: CCTV

China’s looks to stop ripple effect as southwest struggles with drought

A drought in China’s southwest has stoked fears the dry period could have severe knock-on effects, with agriculture, hydroelectric power and aluminium production all facing potential shortfalls.

25 Mar 2024 - 6:45PMvideocam

China will miss its climate goals unless it reins in coal power: report

China is at risk of missing its climate targets and suffering major economic losses unless it takes decisive actions to put a halt to runaway coal power plant expansion and reform outdated power grid management, says Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

22 Feb 2024 - 8:02AMvideocam

China coal reserves found lacking after past crises hit industries, livelihoods

A new national backup system for coal production will seek to stabilise prices and ensure sufficient supplies as energy security is increasingly prioritised across the country.

7 Dec 2023 - 9:00PM

China says the output of coal mines must be increased to address power concerns. Photo: AFP

China’s power sector could reach peak emissions by 2025: climate report

Record clean energy installations could help China’s power sector to reach peak emissions in the next two years, but continued investment in coal-based capacity and a lack of firm emissions targets could undermine optimism about the country’s green transition, according to climate researchers.

29 Nov 2023 - 8:00AMvideocam

China is expected to generate 440 TWh of clean electricity from solar, wind, hydro and nuclear sources in 2023, exceeding the country’s 10-year average electricity demand growth of 367 TWh for the first time. Photo: AFP

Beijing tells China’s poor that help is coming via wider social security net

China’s State Council also puts the onus on local governments to bolster support for those most in need, including the poor and elderly, while also vowing to keep them warm this winter.

11 Oct 2023 - 8:00PMvideocam

China wind farm sets high-altitude records at breathtaking heights in Himalayas

Visiting the Zhegu Wind Farm in Tibet could literally take your breath away at well over three miles above sea level, and Beijing sees it as an ideal place for a power play in its energy-security push.

6 Oct 2023 - 9:00AMvideocam

China falls off Paris Agreement pace with increasing coal use: analysts

Beijing’s pledge to phase down coal use starting in 2026 appears to be in jeopardy amid a building spree for new coal-fired plants, energy analysts say.

20 Sep 2023 - 1:08PM

Excavators transfer coal at a port in Lianyungang, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province, on May 24, 2023. Photo: AFP

China coal spree continues at frantic pace despite 2030 carbon pledge: report

Most new projects are in areas that do not lack generating capacity, says report from Global Energy Monitor and Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

29 Aug 2023 - 10:54AMvideocam

In this file photo taken on September 28, 2021, a smokestack of the Wujing Coal-Electricity Power Station spouts smoke in Shanghai. Photo: AFP

China takes aim at energy crisis with massive crude-oil processor

Huge processing vessel undocks as a chorus of calls and suggestions flag energy security pitfalls and seek action from Beijing at a time of internal and external uncertainties.

3 Jul 2023 - 6:58PM

China unlikely to face large-scale power outages this summer, analysts say

China is unlikely to see large-scale power shortages this summer even with heatwaves driving up demand for cooling and more frequent droughts threatening the country’s hydropower output, analysts said.

17 Jun 2023 - 8:00AMvideocam

China supercharges readiness for power outages with huge emergency drill

The largest and most extensive joint exercise in China’s eastern region aims to ensure that extreme summer weather will not cripple power grids, shut down manufacturing or leave people in the dark.

16 Jun 2023 - 8:30PM

China is on high alert for possible power supply shortages during the summer peak season that could cripple its manufacturing and industrial production. Photo: AFP

China, climate change and El Nino: an emerging food, water and power crisis

16 Jun 2023 - 2:34PM

Drought, summer heat test China’s economic recovery as power producer sizzles

Hydropower-reliant Yunnan province cannot generate as much electricity amid low water inflows, and months of diminished rainfall threaten to have a broader impact on other regions.

2 Jun 2023 - 10:00AMvideocam

China leads the world in preparing for extreme weather threats to power supplies

With extreme weather set to once again test the nation’s electricity grid after heatwaves and drought last year, the Chinese government has been quick to respond to the threat, according to The Lantau Group.

31 May 2023 - 11:33AMvideocam

Women use an umbrella to shelter from the sun amid hot weather in Shanghai. Shanghai on May 29 recorded its hottest May in 100 years, shattering the previous high by a full degree. Photo: AFP

China puts upper Yellow River dam plans on the fast track with feasibility study

Project on the Gansu-Ningxia border is part of planned westward extension of controversial south-north water diversion network.

8 May 2023 - 11:00AMvideocam

The Heishanxia section of the Yellow River in China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Photo: Xinhua

Yunnan province warns power crisis could continue, caps smelting to cope

Energy-intensive aluminium production in the hydropower-reliant Chinese province helps drive the regional economy, but authorities say that persistent drought conditions necessitate power rationing.

25 Apr 2023 - 5:31PMvideocam

China’s coal power expansion hurts global efforts to end dirty fuel use: study

New coal power capacity under development in China rose 38 per cent to 366GW last year, while it fell 20 per cent in rest of the world, according to a report by climate NGOs.

6 Apr 2023 - 4:18PMvideocam

China’s wave of new coal power plants makes climate goals harder: report

China embarked on a massive expansion of its coal-fired power capacity in response to last summer’s historic power crisis, approving the equivalent of two large coal power plants per week, new research has found.

27 Feb 2023 - 2:31PMvideocam

Chinese local governments gave permission for 106 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power capacity in 2022, the most since 2015. Photo: AFP

China’s coal plants used a city’s worth of water daily during drought: analysts

Coal power plants picked up the slack for hydroelectric plants in Sichuan province during a summer 2022 drought, but they also consumed enough water for 1.2 million people every day, analysts say.

26 Nov 2022 - 9:38AMvideocam

The Baihetan hydropower plant is seen in operation on the border between Qiaojia county of Yunnan province and Ningnan county of Sichuan province in China on June 28, 2021. Photo: Reuters

China’s northeast hopes clean energy will help it shake ‘rust belt’ moniker

Renewable energy offers abundant economic opportunities, but critics question if a green-energy build-up will be enough for the northeast region to counter the ingrained economic issues that have hindered its past efforts at revitalisation.

13 Nov 2022 - 11:00AMvideocam

China, Japan, South Korea increase winter fuel stocks amid global energy crisis

Countries such as China, Japan and South Korea are storing fuel, varying sources and saving energy to establish sufficient supplies for the colder months after grappling with soaring prices.

3 Nov 2022 - 6:33PMvideocam

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China’s power crisis

China is used to seeing power supply cuts in parts of the country each year, but their frequency has increased sharply since the second half of 2020, escalating to a crisis in September 2021. Potential causes include Beijing-dictated carbon reduction targets to lower emissions, and an urgent shortage of coal.

last updated:

9 September, 2024