China building more coal-fired power: Greenpeace

Shanghai

CHINA is building another 200 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired power capacity despite tough new measures designed to cut the use of fossil fuels and tackle overcapacity, environmental group Greenpeace said on Wednesday.

China's coal-dominated thermal power sector has continued to expand rapidly amid an unexpectedly sharp slowdown in energy consumption growth, as well as a state-led effort to tackle smog, cut carbon emissions and encourage cleaner forms of electricity.

According to National Energy Administration (NEA) data, China's total thermal capacity grew 7.8 per cent in 2015 to 990 GW, outstripping a 0.5 per cent increase in consumption. Another 24 GW went into operation in the f…