Shenhua to Build Asia’s Biggest Coal-Fired Power Station in Southern China - Bloomberg

Shenhua Group Corp. plans to build Asia’s biggest coal-fired power plant in China’s southern province of Guangxi to help reduce electricity shortages in the region, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The parent of Hong Kong-listed China Shenhua Energy Co. (1088) signed an agreement with the local government to build an 8- gigawatt plant at the port city of Beihai, Xinhua said in the report today, without citing anyone. Construction will take about five years, it said. China, the world’s biggest polluter, relies on coal to generate about 80 percent of its electricity. The plan to build the thermal station in Guangxi comes after the province suffered power shortages in recent years because drought reduced supply from hydroelectric plants. The coastal province has deep ports that will allow ships to deliver coal to the plant, Xinhua reported, citing Shenhua Chairman Zhang Xiwu. Guangxi will need to build docks to receive coal delivered from Shenhua’s mines in Indonesia and Australia, Xinhua said, citing Zhang

European Investment Bank criticised for 'hypocrisy' of fossil fuel lending

The world's biggest lender to energy and climate action projects almost doubled the funds given to fossil fuels between 2007 and 2010, a new report (PDF) published on Thursday reveals. The European Investment Bank (EIB), a bigger lender than the World Bank, also tripled the lending to renewable energy according to the campaign group behind the report, Bankwatch. But the group said that overall, the bank is failing in its responsibility to further the goals of the European Union, including cutting carbon emissions by at least 20 per cent by 2020.

• Updated: Durban close to breakthrough climate deal

• Clean energy investments pass trillion-dollar mark

"Our study highlights once more the secret hypocrisy at the heart of EU climate action," said Piotr Trzaskowski, Bankwatch energy co-ordinator. "While the EU appears to be the world's most progressive actor in the global struggle against climate change, the financial arm of the union is putting billions of euros of public money into energy infrastructure that will lock in countries into a fossil-fuel dependent path for four or five decades. Considering what we are hearing from [the UN climate talks in] Durban this week, if even the EU acts this way, we are tragically on a sure road to disaster.