A first in five decades, China and India both see rare slide in coal power output

China’s coal-fired generation fell 1.6% last year while India’s declined 3%, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Representative image of a coal block | Commons

The world’s two largest users of coal power both reduced generation from the polluting fossil fuel last year for the first time in more than 50 years, according to a new report.

China’s coal-fired generation fell 1.6% last year while India’s declined 3%, according to Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air writing for Carbon Brief. It’s the first time both countries have experienced a drop in the same year since 1973, when the world was in the throes of the Arab oil embargo.

The dual declines came amid record-setting renewables expansion in each country. In China, a huge wave of new solar and wind power was able to meet a rapid rise in power consumption. In India, the fall in coal power was heavily aided by cooler weather and slower underlying demand.

It’s unclear yet whether the drops will mark a broader inflection point, or will end up as blips. China only needs to maintain its pace of renewables additions to force coal power into a long-term decline, Myllyvirta said, while India will need to accelerate its wind and solar build-out. Being able to do that will require massive investments in the power grid to accommodate more intermittent sources.

The drops in generation came even as both countries are expanding coal power capacity, increasing the risk that new plants aren’t run frequently and create financial distress for state-backed utilities. Already in January India has seen a surge in coal power generation due to rising winter demand and a dip in hydropower output.

“While many challenges remain, the decline in their coal-power output marks a historic moment, which could help lead to a peak in global emissions,” Myllyvirta said.

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Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Bloomberg news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.