Blog: Is China moving closer to an efficient power sector?
China Huaneng Group, the nation's biggest power company, said it will shut small, coal-fired power plants that account for about 6 percent of its total capacity by 2010 as part of efforts to use energy more efficiently. Huaneng will close 3,672 megawatts of capacity at “inefficient” small plants within five years, up from a previous target of 2,512 megawatts, the Beijing-based power producer said in a statement on its Web site.
China is the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide after the United States with almost 900 Million metric tones of carbon equivalent released into the atmosphere every year. In the long run, experts have predicted that it will surpass the US and this has tarnished Beijing’s image vis-à-vis environmental organizations. Recently, the Chinese government has started to switch to alternative energy and renewables in order to curb its pollution level. However, this strategy has not been enough to outweigh coal-fired power plants, which occupy a major portion of the country’s power producing facilities. Coal consumption jumped 7.6 percent last year according to the China's National Bureau of Statistics. The latest solution proposed by Chinese companies is to terminate the operation of ineffective plants.
China plans to shut 50,000 megawatts of small power producing capacity by 2010 to curb pollution and waste. The nation closed 8,300 megawatts of capacity at small power stations between 2001 and 2005, missing a target of 15,000 megawatts, because power shortages hobbled efforts to enforce the policy, Zhao Xiaoping, director of the National Reform and Development Commission's energy bureau, said.
Following a the government ban on electricity companies from building thermal power units with capacity of less than 300 megawatts, Huaneng closed 49 units with 1,400 megawatts of capacity before the end of May. This move has allowed Huaneng to cut prices of power generated by small coal units and hence mitigate their effects on the company’s profitability and development.
Similar strategies were perpetrated by other companies. China Power Investment, the nation's fifth-largest power producer, shut down the Niangziguan plant, which had two 100-megwatt thermal power units, in Shanxi Province, according to the Web site of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. China Power Investment will build another two 600-megawatt units instead, it said, without giving investment figures or a timetable for the projects.
Huaneng's generating capacity reached 57,185 megawatts at the end of 2006, according to its Web site. Huaneng is the parent of Hong Kong-listed Huaneng Power International Inc. China Power Investment is parent of Hong Kong listed China Power International Development Ltd.
Despite China’s efforts to reduce emissions, prediction range to a staggering 2000 million tones of carbon emissions every year. Will China be able to prove the statistics wrong and will closing inefficient plants be a viable solution?
China is the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide after the United States with almost 900 Million metric tones of carbon equivalent released into the atmosphere every year. In the long run, experts have predicted that it will surpass the US and this has tarnished Beijing’s image vis-à-vis environmental organizations. Recently, the Chinese government has started to switch to alternative energy and renewables in order to curb its pollution level. However, this strategy has not been enough to outweigh coal-fired power plants, which occupy a major portion of the country’s power producing facilities. Coal consumption jumped 7.6 percent last year according to the China's National Bureau of Statistics. The latest solution proposed by Chinese companies is to terminate the operation of ineffective plants.
China plans to shut 50,000 megawatts of small power producing capacity by 2010 to curb pollution and waste. The nation closed 8,300 megawatts of capacity at small power stations between 2001 and 2005, missing a target of 15,000 megawatts, because power shortages hobbled efforts to enforce the policy, Zhao Xiaoping, director of the National Reform and Development Commission's energy bureau, said.
Following a the government ban on electricity companies from building thermal power units with capacity of less than 300 megawatts, Huaneng closed 49 units with 1,400 megawatts of capacity before the end of May. This move has allowed Huaneng to cut prices of power generated by small coal units and hence mitigate their effects on the company’s profitability and development.
Similar strategies were perpetrated by other companies. China Power Investment, the nation's fifth-largest power producer, shut down the Niangziguan plant, which had two 100-megwatt thermal power units, in Shanxi Province, according to the Web site of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. China Power Investment will build another two 600-megawatt units instead, it said, without giving investment figures or a timetable for the projects.
Huaneng's generating capacity reached 57,185 megawatts at the end of 2006, according to its Web site. Huaneng is the parent of Hong Kong-listed Huaneng Power International Inc. China Power Investment is parent of Hong Kong listed China Power International Development Ltd.
Despite China’s efforts to reduce emissions, prediction range to a staggering 2000 million tones of carbon emissions every year. Will China be able to prove the statistics wrong and will closing inefficient plants be a viable solution?
posted by Charltonmedia.com @ 3:18 AM
<< Home