China News Service, Taiyuan, September 5. Title: Chinese and British industry insiders discuss the exit path of coal power and clean power transformation in Taiyuan, Shanxi
China News Service reporter Yang Jing
The 2026 Taiyuan Energy Low-Carbon Development Forum was held in Taiyuan, Shanxi from September 4th to 5th. During the event, industry insiders from China and the UK held dialogues on topics such as the reuse of coal assets and just transformation at the British guest country forum themed "China-UK Energy Transformation Forum - Transformation from Coal Power to a Clean Power System".
China has built the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system. As of the end of June this year, the total installed capacity of wind power and solar power reached 1.95 billion kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 16.8%. In the first half of the year, China's renewable energy power generation accounted for approximately 40% of total power generation, and coal power generation accounted for less than 50% for the first time.
Liu Zhenmin, China's special envoy for climate change affairs, said that China and the UK have long maintained good cooperation in the fields of global climate governance, energy transformation, green technology innovation, etc., carried out a series of practical cooperation projects, and established an efficient communication platform, which has injected strong impetus into the green development of the two countries and global climate governance.
"China and the UK should, based on their respective national conditions and resource endowments, coordinate the large-scale development of new energy and the orderly replacement of traditional energy, strengthen peak energy storage, intelligent dispatch, power grid upgrade and other supporting construction of the power system, and achieve coordinated advancement of multiple goals of promoting carbon reduction, ensuring security, and stabilizing growth," Liu Zhenmin said.
Wei Lei, the British Ambassador to China, said that in September 2024, the United Kingdom will close its last coal-fired power plant, ending more than 140 years of coal-fired power generation history, and becoming the first industrial country in the world to withdraw from coal power.
Wei Lei said that a successful transition not only requires clear direction from the government, but also requires the electricity market to leverage and attract investment, establish a fair carbon pricing mechanism, promote the rapid growth of renewable energy installed capacity, and plan the transition path for affected workers and communities. "The global energy transformation cannot rely solely on goals, but needs to be through real work in the market to generate new industries and higher-quality employment opportunities."
As an important energy base in China and the country's first pilot province for comprehensive energy revolution reform, Shanxi Province will have 413 smart coal mines in 2025, accounting for 38.7% of the national total (1,066). The province's new and clean energy installed capacity reached 90.484 million kilowatts, accounting for 55.1% of the installed power capacity, surpassing coal power for the first time.
Zhang Chunlin, chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that China and the UK have broad space for cooperation in the field of green and low-carbon energy transformation. Shanxi is willing to deepen practical cooperation with the UK in clean and efficient utilization of coal, energy storage and new power system construction, hydrogen energy and unconventional energy, green finance and carbon markets.
The forum also set up three thematic speech sessions on the transformation and utilization of coal assets, coping with the social and economic impacts of coal transformation, and energy storage technology solutions, as well as a roundtable dialogue with the theme of "Improving Capacity Mechanisms to Support Coal Transformation and Energy Storage Development." Entrepreneurs and scholars from the Energy Research Institute of Oxford University, Taiyuan University of Technology, Jinneng Holding Group Co., Ltd. and other institutions shared practical experience and technological exploration in their respective fields.
This forum is jointly sponsored by the Shanxi Provincial People's Government and the British Embassy in China, and hosted by the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanxi Provincial People's Government.
