Huge China coal plant shelved over pollution concerns | ... First, let's put this in perspective. In Europe or the U.S., a huge 2,000-megawatt coal power project (roughly the size of four average U.S. coal plants) next to a megacity of 10 million, would top the list of polluting power plant proposals and attract intense scrutiny. In China, which has continued to add an equivalent amount of capacity every few weeks, permitting a project like this half a year ago was still business as usual. It's what happened after the projects preparatory work got underway that bent the arc of history in China.
The 2,000-megawatt power plant was planned on the coast of South China Sea, 50 kilometers from the megacities of Shenzhen, population 10 million, and Hong Kong, population 7 million. Greenpeace estimated that the new power plant would cause 1,700 premature deaths over its operating life, despite being fitted with state-of-the-art SO2, NOx and particulate filters.