China to Veto Small Coal Power Generators

The Chinese government will veto plans for new coal power generators with a capacity below 300,000 kilowatts, which are built solely for the purpose of power generation, reported the Shanghai Securities News on Tuesday.

A report on the new policy announced by Chen Deming, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that new power generators should be equipped with facilities to desulfurize emissions and to reduce soot emissions.

The new policy aimed to address the problems of excessive consumption and pollution of the sector, as greater capacity meant higher efficiency with less energy consumption and less pollution.

Power generation consumed more than 1.2 billion tons of coal last year, half of the country's total coal consumption, while accounting for 54 percent of the country's sulfur dioxide emissions.

Coal-based power generators with a low capacity have been blamed for high energy consumption and heavy pollution.

Official statistics show that 35 percent of the total sulfur dioxide emissions and 52 percent of the total soot emissions of the sector came from coal-based power generators with relatively small capacities.

The government ordered the closure of coal power generators with relatively small capacities up to 200,000 kilowatts in January.

Many 300,000-kilowatt coal power generators were built in the 1990s, but have since been largely replaced by 600,000-kilowatt generators. Coal-based generators with a capacity of one million kilowatts were put into operation last year.

With the development of the sector, the country's installed power generation capacity exceeded 600 million kilowatts in 2006, sharply reducing the number of power blackouts.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2007)