The capacity payments will be calculated based on fixed costs of 330 yuan ($45.25) per kilowatt per year for coal plants. Analysts said the move was important to ensure the financial viability of seldom-utilised, backup coal power, which is used for demand peaks or when renewable power generation is insufficient. However, observers also cautioned that the policy could risk entrenching inefficient coal power in China's energy system, despite its rapid expansion of renewable power generation capacity. "Capacity-based electricity pricing for coal power will further incentivise state-owned enterprises in China to build new coal power projects in the short term. Capacity payments should be for all power producers, not only for coal power," said Zhang Kai, deputy program director for Greenpeace East Asia in Beijing.

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Persons: David Fishman, Xuewan Chen, Group's Fishman, Zhang Kai, Colleen Howe, Andrew Hayley, Edmund Klamann, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Kim Coghill Organizations: National Development, Reform Commission, Reuters, Analysts, Lantau, LSEG, Jinneng Holding, Power Co, Centre for Research, Energy, Clean, Greenpeace East, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Shanghai, Beijing, Shanxi, Jiangxi Ganneng, Hunan, Greenpeace East Asia