 "Vandana Gombar: Who wants a coal power plant?")
The announcement of Donald Trump as the next President of the US earlier this month saw an immediate spike in the share price of coal companies such as Peabody, as investors braced for a sharp swift in policy towards coal. Different headlines have been emerging from the rest of the world, however, as worries about emissions took centre-stage.
The emergency plan to tackle alarming pollution levels in the capital city of Delhi included a temporary shutdown of the Badarpur coal power plant. It was also singled out for closure last year, when it became difficult to breathe. This scenario could be repeated in other cities in the country where popular pressure forces the temporary, or even permanent, closure of a coal plant. This is a risk that needs to be priced in by lenders to new coal projects.
India is already scaling back plans for new coal projects, as demand for power wanes. Just about half of the 80-gigawatts pipeline of projects is likely to be actually built, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup told Bloomberg News earlier this year.
China – the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal – was struggling to come to terms with the unfortunate loss of life of 33 people working in an underground coal mine earlier this month.
France meanwhile decided to exit all coal power generation by 2023, according to a statement by the country’s Energy and Environment Minister Segolene Royal on November 3, a move that may have been dictated more by economics than anything else, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Low European gas prices and renewables are impacting the profitability of coal power plants on the continent.
In the rest of Asia, there are protests against coal plants even in countries that sorely need power. Take the 1,320-megawatts Maitree power plant in Bangladesh, on the edge of the Sunderbans mangrove forest, which is being built with in partnership with India. UNESCO is the latest body to join the movement against the plant, citing a “serious threat” to the heritage site.
A 500-megawatts coal-fired plant proposed by POSCO at its Pohang Steel Industrial complex in Korea is unlikely to go ahead due to protests from local residents and environmental groups. There are other coal plants in the country that have been suspended, or delayed due to local protests.
Until clean-coal ceases to be an oxymoron, there will be countries that would pitch for the coal-free tag, if they could afford it. There are certainly many companies committed to getting all their power from renewables, and that list is growing fast.
The writer is editor (global policy) for Bloomberg New Energy Finance. vgombar@bloomberg.net
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
