The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in North
China, is one of the country's biggest electricity generators,
providing up to a third of the power used by Beijing every
year.
As a key resource provider, the region delivered a total of 55.5
billion kWh to its surrounding provinces and municipalities by the
end of 2006.
"Last year when Beijing and other places tried to restrict the
use of power by switching it off, power exports from Inner Mongolia
contributed greatly to help boost the coal-to-electricity
strategy," Qiao Mu, vice-director of the provincial development and
reform committee, told China Daily.
To date the installed power-generating capacity is 24.1 million
kWh, and electricity output last year was 141.64 billion kWh.
Between 2005 and 2006 a number of new power plants started up,
including the region's first natural gas-generated power plant and
China's largest coal-fired power foundation -- the phase three
project of Datang Tuoketuo Power Plant in the capital city
Hohhot.
Shangdu Power Plant in Xilingol League has generated 1.58
billion kWh. Renowned for being low cost and environmentally
friendly, the plant has been a major player in the export of
electricity to the country's south.
Inner Mongolia's powerful power production capacity is made
largely possible by its richness in coal resources.
Latest data suggests the region's available coal reserves is
223.2 billion tons, second only to neighboring Shanxi Province.
Once the poorest city in the region, Erdos is now the largest
coal-producing city in the country, accounting for up to 60 percent
of its annual income.
Chu Bo, Party secretary of the region, said Inner Mongolia was
determined to convert half of its coal into profitable commodities,
including electricity, oil and other chemical products.
"How to make the best use of coal resources, to introduce coal
chemical industries, including liquefied coal oil projects, is
vital to our efforts to extend the industrial chain and increase
industrial production value," Chu said.
Since 2000 a number of coal-related chemical industrial projects
and oil-substitution projects have been launched in Inner
Mongolia.
About 60 km southeast of Genghis Khan Tomb in Erdos is Shangwan,
the mine area of Shenhua Group Corporation, the country's top coal
producer.
Its liquefied coal oil project with an investment of 50 billion
yuan (US$6.6 billion) is in its final stage of construction and
will start production later in the year, according to Wang Yulong,
deputy manager in charge of the coal liquefying arm of the
Liquefied Coal Oil Company of Shenhua Group.
Once finished, it is expected to process about 3.45 million tons
of coal into 1.08 million tons of oil annually, including 720,000
tons of diesel.
"The vast 1.18 million sq km area of Inner Mongolia has rich
reserves of coal, oil, natural gas, and non-ferrous metals -
strongly supporting the region and the whole country's
development," Chu said.
However, he stressed that the region's industrial development
"does not" totally rely on coal sales, which contributes less than
8 percent to the local industrial production value, equal to
dairy-related product sales.
The future development of the region will rely on a number of
"sustainable" factors such as developing the region into a "recycle
economy," Chu said.
(China Daily August 8, 2007)