The Chinese government is planning to ban construction of new coal-fired power plants as part of its five-year plan.

The 13^th Five Year Plan for the energy sector, which is expected to be announced to the public "shortly," will reportedly "suspend" the construction of new thermal power plants until the beginning of 2018.

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According to Lin Boqiang, an energy economist at Xiamen University, the suspension will be reviewed at that time; however, it is unlikely to be revoked, the Financial Review reported.

"The main reason for the suspension is the weak power demand," he said, adding that the decrease in government infrastructure projects has resulted in a slowdown of power consumption demand from heavy industries.

In 2015, coal imports from China significantly plummeted by 30 percent to 204 million tonnes, the lowest in over half a decade. Even the price of thermal coal also halved in value over the same period to an estimated $50 per tonne.

The Economic Information Daily reported that the 13^th Five Year Plan energy policy would also introduce stricter rules than those implemented in April, which prohibited construction of new coal-fired plants in areas with surplus power supply, underscoring China's concern with overcapacity across its economy that led to weakening industrial demand as growth slows.

Last month, the Chinese government prioritized renewable energy to minimize China's wasted green power.

Reports indicate that last year, around 15 percent of China's wind power was left unutilized. The number spiked to 26 percention the first quarter of this year. Just recently, China has shut down a number of its wind turbines as their idle capacity is only damaging the country's electrical grid.  

Also, the utilization rate of China's coal-fired power stations went down from 60 percent in 2011 to 48 percent in the first quarter of 2016.

Tagschina, coal-fired power plants, renewable green energy, 14th Five Year Plan, energy sector