IEA: final investment decisions for coal power plants continue to decline
Published by Nicholas Woodroof,
Editor
World Coal,
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest review of global energy spending has found that the electricity sector attracted the greatest share of energy-related investment in 2017.
Substantial spending on electricity grids meant that, for the second year in a row, investment in electricity exceeded investment in the oil and gas industry.
Figures from the ‘World Energy Investment 2018’ report show that global energy investment amounted to US$1.8 trillion in 2017, a 2% decline in real terms from the previous year. More than US$750 billion went to the electricity sector, while US$715 billion was spent on oil and gas supply globally.
Final investment decisions for coal power plants to be built in the coming years declined for a second straight year – by 18% – reaching a third of their 2010 level. In China, investment in new coal-fired plants dropped by 55% in 2017.
Despite a global trend of declining global additions and further retirements of existing plants, the global coal fleet continued to expand in 2017, primarily due to Asian markets. And while there was a shift towards more efficient plants, 60% of currently operating capacity was still found to be using inefficient subcritical technology.
This year’s report has been released for free and can be downloaded here.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/18072018/iea-final-investment-decisions-for-coal-power-plants-continue-to-decline/
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