KENNY TONG/Shutterstock Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter China’s preparations for peak summer demand to avoid last year’s crippling power crunches will be severely tested as the country grapples with an early onset of record-high temperatures — from southern coastal provinces to acrid areas in the north. Most of the preparations revolve around coal stockpiling and maximizing coal production, in addition to a further acceleration in the country’s already-frantic pace of wind/solar capacity construction. The tug-of-war between coal and what China terms “non-fossil” energy sources such as hydro, wind, solar and nuclear appears to be a tightly-fought contest, with coal still gaining market share despite the best of efforts by the country to further expand its world-leading wind and solar fleet. Coal, a major contributor to global warming, is benefitting from a viscous pattern — with hot spells and droughts depleting water levels at hydro stations, forcing China to increase coal-fired generation.
