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Science Forum Index » Energy Forum » Coal Shortage in China
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| Tim Miller |
 Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 10:28 pm |
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Guest
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At last, some good news for coal producers!
From http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-12/07/content_287968.htm:
China faces energy shortage
China is facing a severe power shortage again this year, following a
nationwide electricity crisis caused by a rare heat wave that struck
many parts of the country in the summer.
Major Chinese electricity producers recently sent urgent signals that
they badly needed coal for electricity generation. Some have appealed
for state intervention to solve their acute coal shortage, which has
gravely hampered normal electricity production.
According to a petition filed by China Huadian Group, China Huaneng
Enterprise Group and five other major power producers, most power
plants in central and north China now face shortages of coal.
Coal reserves in these power plants have dropped below the warning
level, and some plants even have been compelled to shut down their
generators, it said.
Some people attributed this power shortage to the soaring coal price,
the rising transportation cost, and declining coal storage and coal
quality, but experts said the remarkable growth of the Chinese economy
is the fundamental reason for the current shortage of all sorts of
energy including coal and electricity.
In 2003, China's economic growth rate is expected to hit 8.5 percent,
even higher than the past several years, which has already drawn the
attention of international media.
Since 1991, the industrial output in Zhejiang Province has been
growing at an annual rate of over 10 percent, while its power demand
has been rising at a yearly rate of 12.5 percent, according to the
State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Now China has become the largest consumer of coal and the second
largest consumer of oil and electricity in the world, official figures
showed.
The amazing booming of China's automobile sales has brought heavy
pressure on oil supplies. In Guangdong Province recently, tank trucks
queued for two kilometers to buy diesel oil. In Shanxi and many other
provinces, small gas stations began to charge drivers for gasoline
with higher prices than regulated by the government.
The shortage of domestic energy supply has increased the demand for
imports. Over the first three quarters of the year, China imported 50
billion US dollars worth of major energy resources and raw materials,
49.1 percent more than in the same period of last year |
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