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According to the National Energy Administration (NEA) of China, total coal mining capacity in China increased by nearly 6% in 2018, reaching 3.53 Gt/year at the end of 2018, despite political commitment to reduce excess capacities in the coal sector and to cut fossil fuel consumption. Even if the sector is still restructuring – the total number of coal mines contracted by 14%, from 3,907 in 2017 to 3,373 in 2018 – the rising production capacity could undermine China’s will to cap CO2 emissions by 2030.

Coal mining capacity should continue to rise in the short term, since an additional 1.03 Gt/year of approved coal mining capacity is currently under construction and 370 Mt/year under trial operation. Moreover, the NEA has already approved 7 coal mining projects totalling 22.5 Mt/year since January 2019. China expects coal production to average 3,9 Gt/year by 2020.

In 2018, China’s coal production rose by 5.2% to nearly 3,550 Mt, and coal-fired power generation by 6%.

Saudi Arabian power generator ACWA Power is preparing to issue an initial public offering (IPO) in the fourth quarter of 2019. The IPO was initially expected for 2018 (sale of a 30% stake) but was postponed as it was awaiting the approval of regulatory authorities. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia raised its stake in the company in July 2018, reaching 24.98%.

The European Parliament has adopted the new Electricity Regulation and Electricity Directive, concluding the political negotiations on the Clean Energy for All Europeans package. The regulation now requires to be formally approved by the Council.

The Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) has presented the pre-announcement and draft contract of the 16th Round of exploratory oil blocks under the concession regime, scheduled to be held on 10 October 2019. The concession contracts will be signed in February 2020.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) of India plans to launch US$5bn of transmission lines tenders in phase as of June 2019, in order to connect 175 GW of renewable power capacity to the national grid by 2022.

French energy group EDF plans to convert its 1.2 GW Cordemais coal-fired power plant in western France to biomass (pellets from discarded wood) by spring 2022. The «Ecocombust» conversion project could replace around 1.3 to 2 Mt/year of coal imports from Poland, Australia and the United States with around 700 kt/year of biomass.

French energy group EDF has signed a cooperation agreement with China Energy Investment (CEI) to take a stake in two offshore wind power projects totalling 500 MW off the coast of Jiangsu Province north of Shanghai (China). The Dongtai IV offshore wind park is currently under construction, while that of Dongtai V will start in 2019.

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resource of Turkey aims to add around 1,000 MW of solar capacity in the near term, by introducing «small-size» solar power plants throughout the country. Turkey would develop 40-50 MW solar capacity projects in each city under the Renewable Energy Resources Zone Areas Projects (YEKA) model, i.e. through tenders and offering purchase guarantees.