Chinese capital sees energy consumption peak, weaned off coal by 2035 By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People look at the skyline of the Central Business District in Beijing, China, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The Chinese capital Beijing will largely wean itself off coal by 2035, when its total energy use is expected to peak at the equivalent of 90 million tonnes of standard coal, under the municipal government’s energy development plan released on Friday.

By 2025, electricity, oil and will each meet roughly one third of energy demand for the Chinese capital, the country’s second most populous city of 22 million people.

Coal will supply 0.9%, or at one million tonnes, of the city’s energy mix by 2025, down from 1.5% in 2020, before the fossil fuel is fully phased out in 2035, the government said.

Beijing, China’s most gasified city that accounts for approximately 6% of national natural gas use, is forecast to burn 20 billion cubic meters of the fuel by 2025, up 6% versus 2020 levels.

The city has also planned a significant increase in emergency gas storage, aiming to have 1.4 bcm storage capacity by 2025, up from under 200 million cubic metres in 2020.

Its refined fuel consumption is forecast to reach 17 million tonnes in five years’ time, rising from 13.64 million tonnes consumed in 2020.

Renewable power generation capacity will likely double during the period to 4.35 gigawatts by 2025, or 28% of total.