To accelerate its clean energy transition, China needs to urgently stop constructing new coal-fired generation capacity and begin phasing down existing coal power plants. The average annual number of operating hours for existing coal plants has already dropped from 4329 hours in 2015 to 4165 hours in 2016, and is expected to fall further. Therefore, many existing and planned coal-fired generation plants run the risk of becoming stranded assets. Given the growing severity of this problem, the Chinese government is eager to quantify the impacts and explore solutions. Thus, on February 28, NRDC, together with University of Oxford and North China Electric Power University (NCEPU), jointly organized the ninth Power Sector Roundtable to discuss how the stranding of coal-fired power assets will impact investors, policymakers, and regulators. A joint study by Oxford and NCEPU was released at the roundtable. This report estimated that the scope of stranded coal-fired assets could be as much as 4.1-9.5% of China's GDP in 2015. This event was attended by over 70 power industry experts, investors, and regulators. Attendees gave positive feedback for the event, expressing interest in further in-depth discussions. 

Click here to the conference files.