China will close many small power generating units which now
produce more than 10 percent of the country's electricity, said
Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan on Monday at a broad national
conference on energy conservation and emission reduction.
Small power generating units around the country consume 400
million tons of coal while emitting 5.4 million tons of sulfur
dioxide and producing 115 million kilowatts a year, Zeng said.
Over the next four years, more that half the power that comes
from small generating units, about 60 million kilowatts, will be
turned off.
China produces about 530 million kilowatts of electricity
annually from all sources.
A small power generating unit is defined as one that produces
less than 50,000 kilowatts.
Delegates from 30 provinces, major power groups and grid
companies attended the meeting. They signed contracts with the
National Development and Reform Commission confirming their plans
to close small power generators, according to a circular from the
commission which was faxed to Xinhua and provides details of the
meeting's discussion. The circular did not provide an estimate on
the number of small power generators that will be closed. "The
restructuring of the power industry should be accelerated, with a
number of large and highly-efficient generating units being
constructed," the Vice Premier was quoted as saying by the
circular.
The Vice Premier underscored the need to develop clean and
renewable energy. The delegates to the meeting passed a resolution
saying no new small thermal power projects will be launched, said
the circular.
Participants at the meeting agreed efforts should be redoubled
over the next four years to develop clean energy projects such as
hydropower, nuclear power and small coal-fired or oil-fired power
generating units should be replaced with large, coal-fired
units.
The plan will save the equivalent of 50 million tons of coal and
reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 1.6 million tons, said the
circular.
(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2007)