China Coal Giant Plans a Surge in Clean Energy Spending

(Bloomberg) -- China Shenhua Energy Co., the country’s largest listed coal company, plans to shift nearly half its capital spending to clean energy by the end of the decade as the country seeks to peak carbon emissions.

The company plans to spend at least 40% of its annual capital expenditures on renewable energy by 2030, up from 0.08% last year, it said in its Environmental, Social and Governance Report Friday. Shenhua, which mines coal and burns it in power plants, plans to peak emissions by 2025 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Its emissions were 177 million tons in 2021, not including those from coal it sold to other companies.

Shenhua is a listed unit of state-owned China Energy Investment Corp., which is the country’s biggest coal miner with output of 570 million tons last year. It’s also the world’s second-biggest renewable power developer, with more than 41 gigawatts of generating projects, according to BloombergNEF data. Most of its renewable projects are under another listed subsidiary, China Longyuan Power Group Corp. 

Shenhua shares gained 9.4% Monday to the highest level since February 2018 after the firm published 2021 results on Friday, which included a 44% growth in net income and dividend payout of nearly all its profit. 

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