North China's Shanxi
Province has rolled up a series of plans to reform its energy
sector, aligning with the country's goals of green development.
The province has fully
implemented the new strategy for energy security, formulated an
action plan for the development of five major energy bases,
identified 85 key tasks, and achieved initial results, Hu Yuting,
executive vice governor of Shanxi, also member of the Standing
Committee of CPC Shanxi Provincial Committee, told CGTN.
Given Shanxi is a vital
energy supplier to China, the central government has made it the
country's first pilot province for comprehensive energy reforms, he
said.
Shifting from coal to
green energy
Shanxi, which used to be a
key producer of coal in China, is trying to shake that reliance on
traditional coal usage and making efforts to supply green energy,
such as developing green coal mining and increasing reserves and
production of unconventional natural gas.
During the 13th Five-Year
Plan period, 181 coal mines have been eliminated, and 157 million
tons of coal overcapacity have been eliminated in Shanxi.
The province has promoted
smart, green and safe coal mining and built the first 5G smart coal
mine in China. The proportion of advanced coal production capacity
has increased to 68 percent, and the death rate per one million tons
of mined coal has reached the leading level in the world.
Regarding unconventional
natural gas, Shanxi has made a three-year plan to deal with the
storage and optimize production of coalbed methane, aiming to
produce 20 billion cubic meters by 2022.
Increase new energy
supply
The installed capacity of
new energy has increased by 2.36 times compared with that at the end
of the 12th Five-Year Plan, according to Hu.
Among them, the installed
capacity of wind power and photovoltaic power grew at an average
annual rate of 24.26 percent and 63.22 percent, respectively, he
added.
Meanwhile, the province has
also accelerated the development of new energy sources, such as
geothermal energy, hydrogen energy and biomass energy.
Major breakthroughs have
been made in key core technologies in some fields: Coalbed methane
synthetic diamonds, carbon-based semiconductor materials, high-end
carbon fiber, Jinhua furnace and other technologies and products
have become global front runners.
Coalbed methane coiled
tubing fracturing technology and equipment have acquired independent
intellectual property rights, the governor said.
Pioneer in reforming
China's power system
Shanxi is also a
comprehensive pilot province for reforming China's national power
system.
Hu said Shanxi has
introduced a series of measures to develop the electric power
system, promote market-based trading of energy use rights, and
improve the mechanism for compensating energy and resources
development.
Shanxi's electricity
transmission and distribution price reform, spot market transaction,
incremental distribution reform, and so on take the lead in the
country, he added.
To support China to exceed
the goals of peaking CO2 emission by 2030 and reaching carbon
neutrality by 2060. Shanxi will promote clean energy consumption,
replacing coal with gas and electricity, Hu said.
All taxis and buses in 11
cities in the province have been replaced by new energy vehicles, he
elaborated.
Hu also noted that expanding
energy openness and cooperation is also helped energy reforms. It
has deepened practical cooperation with the International Energy
Agency, the World Bank and world-renowned energy enterprises.
Taiyuan Energy Low-Carbon
Development Forum has become a national-level, international and
professional platform for cooperation and exchange.
Source: CGTN |