The study dubs these power plants “super polluters” and all run on coal. As one would logically deduce, it should be a global priority to transition these plants to cleaner forms of electricity.
Below the top 10 most polluting power plants in the world:
Belchatow – Poland – state-owned Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE)
Vindyachal – India – state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)
Dangjin – South Korea – state-owned Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCo)
Taean – South Korea – state-owned Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCo)
Taichung – Taiwan – state-owned Taiwan Power Company
Tuoketuo – China – state-owned Datang International Power Generation Company
Niederaussem – Germany – public company – Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk (RWE) BlackRock has a majority share
Sasan Umpp – India – privately owned 50.54% by Mukesh D. Ambani – Reliance Group
Yonghungdo – South Korea – state-owned Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCo)
Hekinan – Japan – JERA corporation (50% owned by Tokyo Electric Power, 50% Chubu Electric Power) Tokyo Electric Power is now state-owned post Fukushima
Mukesh Ambani, Indian Billionaire owner of Reliance Group
“Belchatow and Taichung: to put the enormity of these two plants’ carbon pollution in perspective, in 2018 they each emitted more carbon dioxide than the entire country of Switzerland.”—report authors Don Grant, David Zelinka, and Stefania Mitova
As you’ll notice most of the worst of the worst power plants are state-owned, so what can you do? It’s time to vote for politicians that align with your values, or cut their financing—what do we mean? A lot rely on banks to keep the financing rolling in. Tell your bank your done with that!