Coalbed Methane
OUTREACH PROGRAM
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Energy Markets in China and the
Outlook for CMM Project Development
in Anhui, Chongqing, Henan, Inner
Mongolia, and Guizhou Provinces
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Energy Markets in China and the Outlook for CMM
Project Development in Anhui, Chongqing, Henan, Inner
Mongolia, and Guizhou Provinces
Revised, April 2015
/Global
Methane Initiative
U.S. EPA
Coalbed Methane
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Acknowledgements
This publication was developed at the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), in
support of the Global Methane Initiative (GMI). In collaboration with the Coalbed Methane Outreach
Program (CMOP), Raven Ridge Resources, Incorporated team members Candice Tellio, Charlee A. Boger,
Raymond C. Pilcher, Martin Weil and James S. Marshall authored this report based on feasibility studies
performed by Raven Ridge Resources, Incorporated, Advanced Resources International, and Eastern
Research Group.
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Disclaimer
This report was prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). This analysis uses
publicly available information in combination with information obtained through direct contact with
mine personnel, equipment vendors, and project developers. USEPA does not:
(a) make any warranty or representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy,
completeness, or usefulness of the information contained in this report, or that the use of any
apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe upon privately owned rights;
(b) assume any liability with respect to the use of, or damages resulting from the use of, any
information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report; or
(c) imply endorsement of any technology supplier, product, or process mentioned in this report.
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Contents
Acronyms and Abbreviations 12
1. Executive Summary 15
1.1 Introduction 15
1.2 Coal Market 15
1.2.1 Provincial Coal Markets 18
1.3 Electricity Market 19
1.3.1 Provincial Electricity Markets 20
1.4 Gas Market 22
1.4.1 National Policy for CBM and CMM Development 25
1.4.2 Provincial Markets for CMM 27
1.5 CMM Projects in China 28
2. Introduction 30
2.1 Background-source of data and analysis 30
2.1.1 Background info on USEPA feasibility and pre-feasibility studies in China 30
2.2 China's energy use 30
2.3 Summary of China's CMM Activity 31
2.4 How to use this document if undertaking CMM projects in China 31
3. Coal Market 32
3.1 National Coal Market Overview 32
3.1.1 Growth in China's Coal Production 32
3.1.2 Supply/Demand 32
3.1.3 Structure of Demand for Coal 34
3.1.4 Demand for Coal through 2015 34
3.1.5 Coal Production 37
3.1.5.1 Coal type 37
3.1.5.2 Coal Production Company Ownership 37
3.1.5.3 Geographic Distribution 39
3.1.6 Marketing and Pricing 40
3.1.7 Recent Market Trends 41
3.2 Provincial level 42
3.2.1 Anhui 42
3.2.1.1 Demand in Anhui 44
3.2.1.2 Demand Outside of Anhui 45
3.2.1.3 Production and Industry Structure 46
3.2.2 Chongqing 47
3.2.2.1 Supply and Demand 48
3.2.2.2 Production and Marketing of Coal by the Chongqing Energy Investment Group 49
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3.2.3 Hebi Area/Henan Province 50
3.2.3.1 Supply and Industry Structure 51
3.2.3.2 In-Province Demand 52
3.2.3.3 Demand for Hebi Coal 53
3.2.4 Guizhou 54
3.2.4.1 Supply and Demand 54
3.2.4.2 Production 56
3.2.5 Inner Mongolia 57
3.2.5.1 Development and Structure of the Inner Mongolia Coal Industry 58
3.2.5.2 Demand for Inner Mongolia's Coal 59
4. Electricity Market 61
4.1 National Electricity Market 61
4.1.1 Growth in Demand 61
4.1.2 Status of the Electricity Industry, 2012 63
4.1.2.1 Generation 63
4.1.2.2 Organizational and Geographical Overview of the Power Sector 64
4.1.3 Transmission, Distribution, and Geographical Layout of the Power Sector 65
4.2 Electricity Macro Plans 68
4.2.1 Generation Mix 68
4.2.2 Grid Integration 70
4.2.3 Electricity Price 71
4.2.3.1 Wholesale Prices 71
4.2.4 Power from CMM 77
4.3 Anhui/East China Grid 78
4.3.1 Anhui Electricity Supply Demand, Organizational Structure, Dispatch and Pricing 78
4.3.1.1 Anhui's Power Industry in a Regional Context 78
4.3.1.2 Anhui's Future in the East China Region 79
4.3.2 Electricity Supply and Demand in Anhui and Potential for Power Generated from CMM 81
4.3.2.1 Demand 81
4.3.3 Pricing 83
4.3.3.1 Wholesale 83
4.3.3.2 End-user Tariffs 83
4.4 Chongqing and Hebi/Central China Grid 84
4.4.1 Central China Electricity Grid 84
4.4.2 Chongqing Electricity Supply, Demand, Organizational Structure, Dispatch and Pricing 87
4.4.2.1 Chongqing Power Pricing 90
4.4.3 Henan Province Electricity Market 91
4.4.3.1 Electricity Supply 93
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4.4.3.2 Alternatives to Coal 96
4.4.3.3 Electricity Supply and Demand: Conclusion 97
4.4.3.4 Pricing and Distribution 97
4.4.4 Hebi Area Electricity Market and Pricing 101
4.5 Guizhou/South China Grid 101
4.5.1 Electricity Supply Demand, Organizational Structure, Dispatch and Pricing 101
4.5.2 Guizhou Provincial Electric Power Market 103
4.5.2.1 Guizhou's Electricity Supply: Present and Future 105
4.5.2.2 Pricing and Distribution 107
4.5.3 Potential for Power Generated from CMM 108
4.6 Inner Mongolia 108
4.6.1 Export of Inner Mongolian Power: Structural Issues 109
4.6.2 Consumption of Electricity within Inner Mongolia 110
4.6.3 Inner Mongolia Electricity Pricing and the Potential for CMM Power Ill
5. Gas Market 112
5.1 National Gas Market 112
5.1.1 Recent Trends in China's Natural Gas Market 112
5.1.1.1 Structure of Demand 114
5.1.1.2 Civil and Commercial Use of Natural Gas 115
5.1.1.3 Industrial Fuel 116
5.1.1.4 Power Sector 117
5.1.1.5 Automotive Sector 117
5.1.2 Structure of China's Natural Gas Industry 118
5.1.3 Natural Gas Supply 120
5.1.3.1 Onshore Gas Production and Pipeline Transmission 120
5.1.3.2 Imported LNG 125
5.1.3.3 Small-Scale Domestic LNG 127
5.1.4 China's Natural Gas Prices 128
5.1.4.1 Policy and Reforms 128
5.1.4.2 Domestic Wellhead, Pipeline, and Citygate Prices, 2012 129
5.1.4.3 Imported Pipeline Gas Prices 130
5.1.4.4 Imported LNG 131
5.1.4.5 Domestically Manufactured LNG Prices 131
5.1.4.6 Retail Prices 131
5.1.5 Unconventional Gas: CBMandCMM 132
5.1.5.1 CBM and CMM in the Twelfth Five-year Plan 132
5.1.5.2 CBM/CMM Development Through 2014 135
5.1.6 Unconventional Gas: Coal to Gas 137
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5.2 Anhui 139
5.2.1 Pipeline Network and Consumption Volumes 139
5.2.2 Consumption Patterns 140
5.2.3 Future Trends 140
5.2.4 Pricing 141
5.2.5 CMM Market and End-Use Options 141
5.3 Chongqing 142
5.3.1 Pricing and CMM Potential 143
5.4 Henan Province 145
5.4.1 Regional Natural Gas Demand 145
5.4.1.1 Consumption and Demand 145
5.4.1.2 Present and Future Supply 146
5.4.1.3 Provincial pipeline infrastructure 147
5.4.1.4 Natural Gas Pricing in Henan 148
5.4.2 CMM Market and End-Use Options 150
5.4.2.1 Consumer Base in the Hebi Area 151
5.5 Guizhou 152
5.5.1 Regional Natural Gas Demand 152
5.5.2 Future Demand and New Supply 152
5.5.3 CMM Market and End-Use Options 154
5.5.4 Pricing 154
5.6 Inner Mongolia 155
5.6.1 Supply and Consumption 155
5.6.2 Pipeline Gas Pricing 156
5.6.3 Small LNG Plants 157
5.6.4 Market for CMM 158
6. Comparison of Opportunities between Provinces 159
6.1 Access to Market 159
6.1.1 Anhui 159
6.1.2 Chongqing 160
6.1.3 Henan 161
6.1.4 Guizhou 162
6.1.5 Inner Mongolia 163
6.2 Pricing 164
7. Conclusion 165
7.1 Summary of National Issues Impeding the CMM Market 165
7.2 Summary of Provincial Issues Impeding the CMM Market 165
7.3 Benefits to Implementing CMM Projects in China 167
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7.3.1 Success Stories 167
8. References 170
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Figures
Figure 1: China's energy mix 16
Figure 2: China's Raw Coal Supply 16
Figure 3: Output of Coal by Classification, 2010 17
Figure 4: Geographic Distribution of China's Coal Reserves and Production 18
Figure 5: Electricity Consumption by Sector, 2012 20
Figure 6: China Natural Gas Market Development, 1995-2012 23
Figure 7: China's Natural Gas Consumption By Sector 2012 24
Figure 8: Population of China with Access to Natural Gas and Consumption by Province, 2012 24
Figure 9: China's Energy Mix 31
Figure 10: China's Raw Coal Supply 33
Figure 11: Output of Coal by Classification, 2010 37
Figure 12: Geographic Distribution of China's Coal Reserves and Production 2012 40
Figure 13: Map showing Anhui Province 43
Figure 14: Anhui Coal Consumption by Sector, 2012 45
Figure 15: Map Showing Chongqing Municipality 48
Figure 16: Map Showing Henan Province 50
Figure 17: Henan Coal Consumption by End User, 2012 53
Figure 18: Map Showing Guizhou Province 54
Figure 19: Guizhou Coal Consumption, 2010 55
Figure 20: Map Showing Inner Mongolia 57
Figure 21: Structure of Coal Demand in Inner Mongolia, 2012 60
Figure 22: Electricity Consumption by Sector, 2012 62
Figure 23: Anhui Electricity Consumption by Sector, 2013 82
Figure 24: Central China Power Grid Supply 86
Figure 25: Chongqing Power Consumption by Sector, 2012 88
Figure 26: Henan Electricity Consumption by Sector, 2013 92
Figure 27: Guizhou Electricity Consumption by Sector, January-September 2013 104
Figure 28: Inner Mongolia Electricity Consumption by Sector, 2012 110
Figure 29: China Natural Gas Market Development, 1995-2012 113
Figure 30: China's Natural Gas Usage by Sector 115
Figure 31: Population of China with Access to Natural Gas and Consumption by Province, 2012 116
Figure 32: Projected Sectoral End use Breakdown of Sinopec Sichuan-Shanghai Pipeline Gas, in
commission 2010 119
Figure 33: Anhui consumption of natural gas by sector, 2012 140
Figure 34: Henan Composition of Natural Gas Consumption by Sector, 2012 146
Figure 35: Inner Mongolia Natural Gas Consumption, 2009 156
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Tables
Table 1: Estimated Coal Consumption in China, 2000-2012 32
Table 2: Raw Coal Supply in China 33
Table 3: Coal End Use 34
Table 4: Economic Growth and Coal Consuming Sector Growth 35
Table 5: Improving Energy Efficiency of Coal Consumers 36
Table 6: Anhui Province Coal Production and Consumption, 2005-2013 43
Table 7: Anhui Coal Consumption by Sector, 2009-2012 44
Table 8: Coal Sales Into and Out of Anhui 45
Table 9: Estimated Coal Consumption and Production in Chongqing 48
Table 10: Supply and Demand for Coal in Henan, 2005-2013 50
Table 11: Coal Consumption by End user, 2009-2012 53
Table 12: Guizhou Coal Supply and Demand 54
Table 13: Inner Mongolia Coal Production and Consumption 57
Table 14: China Electricity Growth, 2007 -2012 61
Table 15: Power Output and Capacity by Type, 2011 63
Table 16: Overview of Regional Grids, 2011 66
Table 17: Electricity Generation Capacity Increase, 2011-2015 68
Table 18: Wholesale Power Tariffs for thermal Power Plants in China, September 2012 72
Table 19: Wholesale Tariffs for Selected Hydropower Stations in China, September 2012 73
Table 20: China Nuclear Power Plant Wholesale Tariffs, September 2012 74
Table 21: China Wind Electricity Wholesale Tariffs, September 2012 75
Table 22: Retail Tariffs in Selected Provinces 76
Table 23: Electricity generation and Consumption in the East China Power Grid, 2009-2013 79
Table 24: Anhui GDP Growth and Electricity Consumption 81
Table 25: Anhui Power Balances, 2010-2013 82
Table 26: Power Wholesale Prices in Anhui 83
Table 27: Standard End-user Electricity Tariffs in Anhui, early 2014 84
Table 28: Anhui Large Industrial End-user Tariffs, Peak and Off Peak 84
Table 29: Central China Power Grid Production and Consumption 85
Table 30: Power Generation Capacity in the Central China Region 87
Table 31: Chongqing Power Supply and Demand 88
Table 32: Electricity Wholesale Prices to Chongqing 90
Table 33: Retail Electricity Prices, Year-end 2011 91
Table 34: Henan Province: GDP and Electricity Consumption Growth, 2000-2013 91
Table 35: Henan Electricity Consumption by Sector 2011-2013 93
Table 36: Electricity Balances in Henan 93
Table 37: Selected Henan Province Electricity Generation Plants 94
Table 38: New Coal-Fred Power Plant Construction in Henan 95
Table 39: Wholesale Power Tariffs in Henan, 2014 97
Table 40: Electricity End-user Tariffs in Henan, October 2013 99
Table 41: Peak electricity in Henan 100
Table 42: China Southern Power Grid Electricity Balances 103
Table 43: Guizhou: GDP Growth and Electricity Consumption 103
Table 44: Guizhou Electricity Consumption by Sector, January-September, 2013 104
Table 45: Guizhou Province Electricity Supply 105
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Table 46: New Power Plants in Guizhou 106
Table 47: Guizhou Wholesale Power Prices, December 2013 107
Table 48: Consumption and Generation of Electric Power in Inner Mongolia 2005-2011 108
Table 49: Eastern and Western Inner Mongolian Grid Overview, 2011 109
Table 50: Wholesale Prices for Power Generated in Western Inner Mongolia, mid-2012 Ill
Table 51: Inner Mongolia Electricity Prices to End-users, mid-2012 Ill
Table 52: China Natural Gas Market Development, 1995-2012 112
Table 53: China Natural Gas Consumption By Sector 114
Table 54: China Natural Gas Production by Province 121
Table 55: China Major Long-Distance Gas Pipelines, 1997-2011 122
Table 56: LNG supply contracts 125
Table 57: LNG Import terminal Projects 2006-2015 126
Table 58: Well-head Natural Gas Prices, 2012 129
Table 59: Domestic Pipeline Gas CityGate Prices in Representative Chinese Cities, 2012 129
Table 60: Natural Gas Retail Prices in Selected Chinese Cities, Third Quarter 2012 132
Table 61: CBM/CMM Recovery and Utilization in China 135
Table 62: China Coal-to-Gas Plants Under Construction, 2012 137
Table 63: Anhui Natural Gas Consumption, 2007-2012 139
Table 64: Wholesale pricing to the main CNPC/Sinopec transfer stations in Anhui 141
Table 65: Chongqing Gas Consumption 142
Table 66: Sichuan Gas field Wellhead Prices, August 2012 143
Table 67: Regulated Natural Gas Retail Prices for Gas Distribution Utilities, Chongqing Municipality,
August 2012 144
Table 68: Henan Natural Gas Production and Consumption, 2008-2012 145
Table 69: Henan Composition of Natural Gas Consumption,2009-20012 145
Table 70: Major Provincial pipelines in Henan 147
Table 71: Henan Natural Gas CityGate Wholesale Prices 149
Table 72: Gas Prices in Hebi and Neighboring Anyang 149
Table 73: Natural Gas Supply and Consumption in Western Inner Mongolia 156
Table 74: Wellhead prices for Changqing Field Gas, mid-2012 156
Table 75: Huhehaote Gas Company Residential and Non-Residential Gas Prices 157
Table 76: LNG Plants in Inner Mongolia and Surrounding Areas 157
Table 77: Anhui Province CMM Projects 159
Table 78: Chongqing CMM Projects 160
Table 79: Henan CMM Projects 161
Table 80: Guizhou CMM Projects 162
Table 81: Inner Mongolia CMM Projects 163
Table 82: Comparison of Electricity and Natural Gas Prices Across Provinces 164
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Acronyms and Abbreviations
AC
Alternating Current
C
Carbon
CBM
Coalbed Methane
CCER
China Certified Emission Reduction
CDC
China Datong Corporation
CDM
Clean Development Mechanism
CER
Certified Emission Reduction
CHP
Combined Heat and Power
CMM
Coal Mine Methane
CMOP
Coalbed Methane Outreach Program
CNG
Compressed Natural Gas
CNOOC
China National Offshore Oil Corporation
CNPC
China National Petroleum and Gas Corporation
CNY
Chinese Yuan (currency)
CO 26
Carbon Dioxide (C02) Equivalent
CPGC
Central China Power Grid Company
CPIC
China Power Investment Corp
CQEIG
Chongqing Energy Investment Group
CSPGC
China Southern Power Grid Company
DC
Direct Current
ECPG
East China Power Grid
EIA
United States Energy Information Administration
FGD
Flue Gas Desulfurization
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
GMI
Global Methane Initiative
GW
Gigawatt
HEC
Henan Electric Company
HIG
Henan Investment Group
IMPGC
Inner Mongolia Power Grid Company
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kcal Kilocalorie
kg Kilogram
kJ Kilojoule
km Kilometers
kV Kilovolt
kWh Kilowatt Hour
LNG Liquefied Natural Gas
LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas
m Meters
M2M Methane to Markets Partnership
m3 Cubic meters
MEP Ministry of Environmental Protection
mm Millimeters
mmbtu Million British Thermal Units
mmkWh Million kilowatt hours
MPa Megapascal
MtC02e Million tonnes Carbon Dioxide Equivalent
MW Megawatt
MWh Megawatt hours
NA Not applicable
NDRC China National Development and Reform
Commission
NEA China National Energy Administration
NEIMPGC Northeast Inner Mongolia Power Grid Company
SCEC Songzao Coal and Electricity Company
SERC China State Electricity Regulatory Commission
SGCC State Power Grid Company of China
SPC China State Power Corporation
t Tonnes
tC02e Tonnes Carbon Dioxide Equivalent
tpy Tonnes per year
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TWh TeraWatt Hour(s)
UHV Ultra-High Voltage
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change
USD United States Dollars
USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency
VAM Ventilation Air Methane
VAT Value Added Tax
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1. Executive Summary
1.1 Introduction
This document reports the results of energy market analysis performed during the course of several
comprehensive coal mine methane (CMM) recovery and utilization feasibility studies conducted in
China. These studies were conducted as a part of a larger initiative funded by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) under the Global Methane Initiative (GMI), formerly the
Methane to Markets Partnership (M2M). USEPA's Coalbed Methane Outreach Program (CMOP) has
launched five full-scale feasibility studies of coal mine methane recovery and utilization projects at
Chinese coal mines. The information in this study comes from five published feasibility
studies: Feasibility Study of CMM Utilization for Songzao Coal and Electricity Company Coal Mines (May
2009). Feasibility of Improved Coal Mine Methane Drainage and Use at the Mines of the Hebi Coal
Industry (Group) Corporation. Limited (2010). Feasibility Study for CMM Drainage and Utilization at
Liuzhuang Coal Mine. Huainan Coal Field (February 2010). Feasibility Study of CMM Utilization for
Guizhou Nengfa Power Fuel Development Co.. Ltd. Linhua Mine Located in Guizhou Province (December
2010). as well as the Feasibility Study for CMM Drainage and Utilization: Inner Mongolia Tai Xi Group
Mines (December 2011). The published studies can be found at
http://epa.gov/cmop/international/china.html.
1.2 Coal Market
Coal dominates China's energy market with an estimated 69 percent contribution to energy needs in
2011 (EIA, 2014). EIA envisages coal's share of the total energy mix to fall to 63 percent by 2020 and 55
percent by 2040 due to anticipated increased efficiencies and China's goal to increase it's environmental
sustainability; however, absolute coal consumption is expected to double over this period, reflecting the
large growth in total energy consumption due to economic growth (EIA, 2014). China plans to reduce
carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by at least 40 percent from 2005 levels by
2020. China has also announced plans to reduce its energy intensity levels (energy consumed per unit of
GDP) by 16 percent between 2010 and 2015 and increase non-fossil fuel energy consumption to 15
percent of the energy mix by 2020 (EIA, 2014). Figure 1 shows estimates of various components'
contributions to China's energy mix as estimated by the US Department of Energy's Energy Information
Administration (EIA).
FIGURE 1: CHINA'S ENERGY MIX
Source: EIA (2014)
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Domestic coal production and transport capacity has strained to keep pace with demand in recent
years, with output rising by only 3.6 percent from 2011 to 2012 (Figure 2).
4,000
3,500
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¦Production Million
Tonnes
Exports Million Tonnes
¦Imports Million Tonnes
300
250
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2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
FIGURE 2: CHINA'S RAW COAL SUPPLY
Source: CESY(2013) p. 11, 36
As a result, China has been transformed from a net coal exporter into the world's largest importer, with
net imports reaching 168 million tonnes, or 4.8 percent of total consumption on a physical quantity
basis, and over five percent on a heat value basis in 2011. Imports are consumed primarily in the
southern and eastern coastal cities, the primary victims of coal transportation bottlenecks, and in steel
mills. Thermal power generation has been the most important driver for coal industry expansion,
accounting for approximately half of total consumption in recent years, followed by steel and cement,
which have accounted for about 25 percent of the total.
Growth of coal consuming sectors has averaged 11-11.7 percent from 2006-2011, 6.7-13.5 percent
higher than economic growth itself. The exception to this pattern occurred in the second half of 2008 to
the first half of 2009, when economic growth slowed to as low as six percent under the combined
impact of the global financial crisis and government-mandated tightening of the real estate market. The
investment-centered economy in China recovered quickly, however, as the global economy stabilized
and the Chinese government implemented a four trillion CNY (625 billion USD) infrastructure-centered
stimulus program. Previous patterns of growth resumed from the second half of 2009 through the end
of 2011. Since the beginning of 2012, the Chinese economy has slowed once again under the combined
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impact of a foreign shock from Europe, Chinese government efforts to control inflationary real estate
transactions, and the wrap-up of 2008-2009 stimulus spending.
The World Bank projects overall growth at about 8.5 percent from 2011-2015, but with a gradual
transition from investment-heavy, industry-led growth (down to 40 percent of total GDP by 2015)
towards a more significant role for consumption (up to about 55 percent by 2015) (World Bank, 2012).
If coal-fired power generation increases by 7.5 percent per year and unit coal consumption decreases by
five percent over the entire 2011-2015 period (i.e., slightly less than one percent per year), coal
consumption in the power industry would increase by about 6.4 percent.
Output of coal by classification in 2010 was approximately as follows (Figure 3):
Llgnlte Anthracite
9%
18%
Bituminous
"Noncoking"
38%
Bituminous
"Coking"
35%
FIGURE 3: OUTPUT OF COAL BY CLASSIFICATION, 2010
Source: Gaoping Coal Beneficiation Association (2010); Industrial Futures (2011)
China's coal reserves and production are disproportionately concentrated in the north-eastern and
central part of the country as shown below in Figure 4.
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Geographic Distribution of China's
Population and Coal Production
Xinjiang
Explanation
2012 Percent of Coal Production
• V' (
r20%S
E.<
Aggregated Coal Production Areas
~
Population, 2012
0- 15,000,000
15,000,001 -30,000,000
30,000,001 - 50,000,000
50,000,001 - 70,000,000
70,000,001 - 90,000,000
90,000,001 - 106,500,000
1,500
Kilometers
FIGURE 4: GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF CHINA'S COAL RESERVES AND PRODUCTION
Source: CESY(2013)
As the heavy industrial economy boomed, coal producers enjoyed a seller's market starting from the
end of 2009 through the beginning of 2012 as market prices increased at double digit rates. The
slowdown in thermal electricity, steel, and cement sales in the second quarter of 2012 caused the free
market delivered price to collapse, as coal stockpiles throughout the country soared.
1.2.1 Provincial Coal Markets
China's macroeconomic slowdown of 2012-2013 and the end of the 10-year coal boom market has had a
profound effect on Anhui's coal industry. Province-wide output in 2013 was 12.5 million tonnes, or 8.3
percent lower than in 2012. After increasing at double digit rates for most of the 21st century, coal
consumption in Anhui only grew at an average rate of 4.2 percent during 2011-2012. The slowdown in
the industrial (non-utility) sector was particularly noteworthy, with consumption actually declining in
absolute terms in 2010, and growing at only 3.5 percent in 2011-2012, despite double digit growth in
traditional consuming industries such as cement. Consumption in coke ovens likewise declined even as
pig iron output increased. Only in the utility sector, which accounted for 54 percent of Anhui's coal
usage in 2012, was the 9.5 percent growth rate from 2010-2012 comparable to earlier years.
Historically, the difficulties of transporting coal over the mountains from the north have forced
Chongqing to rely primarily on its own coal production, despite the limited size, complex geology, high
recovery costs, and mediocre quality of the municipality's high sulfur anthracite deposits. Starting from
2008, Chongqing became a progressively larger net coal importer as its own production plateaued. Most
incoming coal originated in Shaanxi Province to the north, with the remainder coming from Guizhou to
the south.
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Chongqing was hit hard by the deceleration of economic growth throughout China in the first half of
2012. As demand for power and heavy industrial commodities moderated, its coal mines are no longer
able to sell all their output, and losses have mounted. Part of the slump is cyclical. When the shorter
term causes (Western European recession, cutback in domestic real estate transactions, cyclical aspects
of the growth) are removed, growth in coal consumption will resume.
Coal production in Henan, one of China's oldest coal producing regions, contracted by 77 million tonnes,
or a factor of one third, between 2009 and 2013, as the province became a major net coal importer for
the first time. Like other producers from long-established mining areas, Henan mines are not cost
competitive with the flood of new mines coming on-stream from new mining areas in Shaanxi and Inner
Mongolia.
Guizhou has traditionally been a coal exporting province, shipping 25-30 million tonnes to outside
customers in recent years. The Guizhou Coal Bureau has projected in-province demand growth at 11.5
percent per year from 2010-2015 to approximately 170 million tonnes, driven largely by electric power
plant construction. Guizhou's coal quality also makes it relatively attractive to neighboring provinces and
Guizhou is virtually the only source of coking coal in south and southwest China.
The stunning 13-fold growth in Inner Mongolia's coal industry from 2000-2011, which has earned it a 28
percent market share in China and catapulted its output beyond that of all countries outside of China,
results mainly from the Chinese government's decision to make huge amounts of inexpensive capital
available for exploitation of a number of almost virgin deposits. The Inner Mongolian coal boom has
been driven primarily by demand in the Yangtze Delta and southern coastal provinces. Shipments
outside the province grew at a 32 percent rate from 2005-2009. The overall economic slowdown and
consequent collapse of the coal market boom throughout China in the first half of 2012 has affected
Inner Mongolia severely, with many mines reducing production, or even shutting down part time. While
it is safe to predict that Inner Mongolia companies will benefit more than higher cost, lower quality
producers in other provinces when the slump ends, it is difficult to predict how quickly this will happen,
and what the longer term changes in the pattern of demand for coal will be. The overall percentage of
in-province consumption of Inner Mongolian coal dropped from approximately 54 percent in 2005 to an
estimated 40 percent or less in 2011. Even with continued expansion of mine mouth generating
capacity, provincial demand by itself will not be sufficient to sustain the explosive expansion of 2000-
2011.
1.3 Electricity Market
China's electricity consumption grew at a robust average rate of 11.1 percent from 2005-2011. With the
exception of 2008-2009, growth in electricity consumption surpassed overall economic growth by an
average margin of 19 percent. In an investment-centered economy, industry was the primary driver of
electricity, accounting for close to 73 percent of total consumption in 2012 (Figure 5). Metals, building
materials, and chemicals alone accounted for 37 percent, with residential and commercial consumption
accounting for only 17 percent.
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Electric Power,
Gas and Water
.Mining and
Quarrying 5%
Production and
Supply 14%
Transport,
Storage and
Post 2%
FIGURE 5: ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, 2012
Source: CESY (2013) p. 87
As China is a zero importer/exporter of electricity, its growth has come entirely from domestic
generation, with output and generating capacity increasing by an average of 11.1 and 12.5 percent
annually from 2005-2011 to 4,700 Terawatt Hours, and 1,060 Gigawatts, respectively. Thermal power,
overwhelmingly coal-fired, dominates the generation mix.
1.3.1 Provincial Electricity Markets
Anhui is an interior, more rural province whose economy modernized slowly. As it is also by far the
largest coal producer in the East China region, regional and national planning authorities developed the
so-called "Anhui power to the East" program in the mid-2000s with the explicit goal of transforming
Anhui into a power supplier to the Yangtze Delta provinces of Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Jiangsu. Three,
500 and one, 1000 kV AC transmission lines with aggregate capacity of about 15,000 MW now connect
Anhui to the Delta provinces. By the end of 2015, 12,000 MW of power plants will be in operation under
the "Anhui Electricity to the East" program, with output fully dedicated to the Delta provinces. Since
2009, the Delta provinces have relied on external sources for about 15 percent of their electricity, with
Anhui supplying approximately one third (an amount equal to over 20 percent of Anhui's generation).
Anhui's domestic electricity consumption has recently continued to grow at double digit rates. In 2013,
manufacturing/mining/construction services, and residential electricity usage rose by 11.3 percent, 16.5
percent, and 13.8 percent respectively. Anhui's provincial leadership called for wider use of CMM, but
without specific reference to the power sector in its energy five-year plan for 2011-2015. Possibly the
growing attention to distributed power will raise CMM's profile. From a supply and demand perspective,
Anhui needs any power that CMM plants could provide.
Power consumption in Chongqing (including both centrally dispatched power from the Chongqing Power
Grid Company and the approximately 10-15 percent coming from several smaller local grids) grew at a
12.6 percent per year rate from 2005-2011 to a level of 71,700 GWh. Chongqing's economic and
electricity consumption growth slowed down sharply in the first half of 2012 due the nationwide slump
in real estate and the European recession. After these short term factors have passed, electricity
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consumption growth rates are likely to fall from 2005-2011 levels as the national economy reorients
towards consumption. But growth could still average as much as 8-10 percent, higher than in the rest of
China, due to the momentum of urbanization. Despite an aggressive investment program by the
Chongqing Municipal government and the five national generating companies in the 2005-2011 period,
which nearly doubled generating capacity and led to 13 percent per year growth in municipal power
generation, Chongqing continued to depend on outside generation sources for 25 percent of its power
supply. The Chongqing Municipal government has put forward a plan to double generating capacity
within the city to 20,000 MW or more during the Twelfth Five-year Plan from 2011-2015.
Henan, located in North-Central China, is one of China's most populous provinces, with 94 million
people counted in the 2010 census. While like most of China's interior provinces, its per capita income
and urbanization rates have lagged behind the more developed coastal provinces, its GDP and electricity
consumption growth rate kept up with the double digit national average in the first decade of the 21st
century. Growth exceeded the national average in 2010 and 2011 as the focus of growth shifted towards
interior provinces and the government loosened lending for capital projects to stimulate the economy
and counteract the impact of the global economic downturn. Between 2012 and 2013, however, growth
of the national GDP dropped in response to China's post-global downturn stimulus. Under these new
circumstances, Henan's electricity consumption growth rate fell precipitously to 3.3 percent in 2012, and
increased only modestly to 5.5 percent in 2013, a full two percentage points lower than the national
average for both years. The overwhelming majority of the power generated in Henan is consumed in-
province. Weak electricity demand in Henan in 2012-2013 resulted directly from the weaknesses of its
heavy industry, and particularly from the weakness of its aluminum sector. Were electricity
consumption in Henan to continue to grow at the rates of 2000-2011, it could be reasonably projected
that power supply would fall short of demand looking forward from 2013. But if consumption in the
metallurgical sector fails to bounce back, and electricity consumption increases at no more than six to
seven percent per year, the combination of significant expansion in coal-fired generation and the
infusion of power from a new transmission line from Xinjiang may be sufficient to fulfill the province's
needs. The success of distributed power generation, whether from renewable plants or CMM
generators, will therefore depend critically on enforcement of policy mandates for favorable dispatch.
The Guizhou power grid is one of five interconnected provincial grids which are controlled by the state-
owned China Southern Power Grid Company (CSPGC). Although Guizhou is one of China's smallest,
poorest, and least urbanized provinces, its interconnections with the rest of the country have grown
stronger in recent years. As is the case for most inland provinces, Guizhou's economy has continued to
grow at double digit rates throughout the second decade of the 21st century even as national economic
growth has moderated. In a sharp break with past patterns, however, electricity consumption growth
has trailed economic growth by increasing margins over the period, falling to 7.2 percent in 2013.
Manufacturing remains the most important driver for economic growth in Guizhou, increasing at well
over 10 percent per year and accounting for approximately 75 percent of total electricity consumption
in the province. In continuation of an electric power investment boom initiated at the beginning of the
21st century in connection with a program to supply electricity to Guangdong, Guizhou's power
generation capacity increased by about 17,000 megawatts, or 63 percent to almost 45,000 MW
between 2009 and 2013. The expansion included major hydropower, as well as a number of large
thermal power plants burning Guizhou's plentiful coal resources. As of the beginning of 2014, coal-fired
plants accounted for 54 percent of total capacity and hydropower for 42.6 percent.
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Power generation in Guizhou increased annually by an average of 5.4 percent between 2009 and 2012.
While growth in power consumption has exceeded the growth rate of power generation, some installed
capacity has not been commissioned and this has led to restrictions on power usage. If demand within
Guizhou and Guangdong continues as projected, supply and demand for electricity within the larger
region could be more closely balanced than in the past. There will continue to be considerable variability
annually due to the unpredictability of water conditions; in bad water years, the Guizhou grid could
dispatch every unit it produces, whereas in good water years, it may not fully dispatch the available
coal-fired capacity. Given their lower wholesale prices, the hydropower plants will always enjoy priority
for dispatch. The public grid could require all distributed power producers, including CMM power plants,
to produce in low water years when hydropower is scarcer; even then, all CMM fueled powered
producers may not be able to dispatch electricity some years if they are unable to meet or beat the cost
of coal-fired power to the grid of approximately 0.38-0.39 CNY per kWh. Distributed generators will
need to rely on enforcement of policy mandating favorable dispatch of their output.
Inner Mongolia is a significant net supplier of electricity to outside provinces based on its abundant coal
resources, sparse population and modest internal demand, and relative proximity to the Beijing-Tianjin
load center. The development of a series of large coal-fired plants such as the 4200 MW Datang
Tuoketuo facility near the Zhonge'er coal mines (the largest coal-fired power plant in the country), has
sparked a 19 percent per year growth rate from 2005-2011 which has made the formerly isolated
frontier province an indispensable supplier to the North China grid area. Inner Mongolia has the
potential to become an even more significant source of power to the rest of China based not only on its
coal resources, but also on the wind power potential created by the Siberian winds sweeping across its
sprawling grasslands and deserts. According to official estimates, it is technologically feasible to
construct 130,000 MW of wind power capacity in Inner Mongolia, a significant proportion of which can
generate at world-class utilization rates (Inner Mongolia Energy Bureau, 2011; China Electricity Council,
2012). Demand for power in Inner Mongolia itself increased at an 18 percent rate from 2005-2011,
considerably higher than the national average as new generation facilities came online and the region's
resource extraction economy accelerated. Potential coal mine methane power generators in Inner
Mongolia will deal with power grid companies more experienced than in any other part of China in
dealing with variable supply from small power suppliers; however, as a practical matter they will have to
compete with the wind power plants for dispatch in a province that has a much stronger stake in wind
power than in CMM.
1.4 Gas Market
In 2011, coal continued to supply 69 percent of China's energy needs despite multiple central
government urgings and projections for its share to decline. Conversely, despite years of double digit
growth in the gas industry, natural gas fueled power accounted for about 4.6 percent in 2011 (EIA,
2014). Being considerably cheaper to produce than natural gas, coal will remain the dominant power
source into the future, but the Chinese government is looking increasingly to mitigate the health and
environmental problems associated with pollution from coal burning (especially in cities) by actively
promoting the use of cleaner energy options, such as natural gas and coal mine methane. The National
Energy Administration's Draft Natural Twelfth Five-year Gas Development Plan issued in mid-2012 called
for the natural gas percentage to reach about 8 percent by year-end 2015, and there has been
speculation that it could rise as high as 12-15 percent by 2020.
The natural gas market in China has experienced a surge of historic proportions since the turn of the
century. This has been a result of the government's decision to invest billions in production facilities,
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long distance pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals in order to introduce natural
gas into the major eastern and southern coastal population and industrial centers. Gas consumption has
grown at a sustained 17 percent rate since 2000, far in excess of original official expectations as
consumers of all kinds experience the benefits of a clean, convenient fuel.
The government now projects that consumption will double to 260 billion cubic meters in 2011-2015,
and to 350 billion cubic meters in 2020 (still only about 10 percent of 2011 worldwide total), and it is
making commitments to import ever larger quantities of gas from outside of China to fulfill this goal as
China's domestic production fails to keep up with demand (People's Daily Net, 2012).
160,000
-7- 140,000
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E
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FIGURE 6: CHINA NATURAL GAS MARKET DEVELOPMENT, 1995-2012
Source: CESY (2013) p. 11, 43, 96
Natural gas consumption in China is driven primarily by residential and commercial use, the
chemical/fertilizer raw material industry, as well as industrial use. Secondary consumers are electric
power generation, automotive, and cement manufacture. China's natural gas consumption by sector is
shown in Figure 7 below.
I Consumption
Production
Exports
Imports
Note: Purple indicates area of overlap
between consumption and production.
45,000
40,000
1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
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Other 2.3%
Electric Power,
Gas and Water
Production and
Supply 16.0%
FIGURE 7: CHINA'S NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR 2012
Source: CESY(2013) p. 84
Figure 8 shows China's urban population with access to natural gas by province in 2012.
Population of China with Access to Natural Gas and
Consumption by Province, 2012
Natural Gas Consumption (Mm3)
"Tip,000
5,000
/\/ Existing Pipelines Tibet
/' V Pipelines Under Construction
Population with Access to Natural Gas, 2012
0 - 500,000
I i 500,001 - 2,000,000
¦ 2,000,001 -4,000,000
¦ 4,000,001 -8,000,000
¦ 8,000,001 - 10,000,000
¦ 10,000,001 - 18,660,000
Source: CESY 2013
1,500
Kilometers
NOTE: Pipeline locations may not represent exact locations.
FIGURE 8: POPULATION OF CHINA WITH ACCESS TO NATURAL GAS AND CONSUMPTION BY PROVINCE, 2012
Source: CESY (2013) p. 47
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1,4.1 National Policy for CBM and CMM Development
The implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in 2005 brought the promise of
carbon credit revenue and increased interest in utilization of CMM. Soon afterwards, the Chinese
central government promulgated its own incentives for CBM and CMM producers, including a 0.20 CNY
per cubic meter payment for CMM consumed as a household or industrial fuel, and an approximately 50
percent price premium over coal for power sold to the public grid. The grid companies, furthermore,
were directed to provide favorable dispatch to the CMM generators (MOF, 2007; NDRC, 2007.4).
As a result, 92 CMM projects have been prepared for the CDM (Huang, 2014). Coal mining companies
installed a reported aggregate 750 MW of distributed power plants to burn CMM (including the 120
MW plant at the Jincheng Coal Mining Company in the Qinshui Basin, the world's largest CMM power
plant), and the number of CMM household and industrial customers rose to 1.89 million (NEA, 2011).
Nonetheless, CMM utilization lagged far behind production given the limitations of local utilization
infrastructure, and the failure of CMM to penetrate the larger natural gas market. The incentive
program for CMM power plant utilization proved particularly difficult to implement due to resistance
from power grid companies uneager to manage the complexities of dispatch of the fluctuating output of
small CMM plants, and lacking a policy mechanism to pass the premiums through to consumers.
CBM and CMM have gradually evolved from a pure mine safety concern to a significant component of
natural gas development in the government's Twelfth Five-year Plan. The degree of actual integration of
CMM into the natural gas economy will depend on continuing demand-side pressures, the favorability of
the regulatory environment, and the quality of management of CMM operation by the mines
themselves.
The Twelfth Five-year Plan on CBM/CMM calls for CMM to be used primarily as a local fuel, with the
number of residential users to double to about 3.3 million households between 2010 and 2015, and
power generation capacity to quadruple to 2850 MW as overall CMM utilization rises by about 5.5
billion cubic meters. The challenges to meeting this target are significant.
It will be necessary to improve CMM drainage practices to raise the average methane content of the
CMM, given the difficulties and expense and inherent danger of transporting low-concentration
methane. Of the approximately 7.5 billion cubic meters of CMM drained in 2010, a significant majority
was less than 30 percent methane concentration.
A series of regulations put forward by the National Energy Administration and the China Ministry of
Environmental Protection (MEP) attempt to deal with the problem. But at least through mid-2012, there
was anecdotal evidence that an MEP-issued regulation in 2008 requiring operators of CMM drainage
systems with greater than 30 percent methane concentration to use or flare the gas was creating a
perverse incentive in some areas to maintain gas concentrations below 30 percent, ignoring best
practices and safety standards.
The focus on local consumption of CMM poses additional challenges, as many of the coal mines
recovering CMM have exhausted the possibilities for burning the CMM to generate power for their own
use, or supplying CMM to customers in the immediate vicinity of the mines. Only a few local
governments such as Jincheng, a municipality of approximately two million people (perhaps 10 percent
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actual urban residents) in the Qinshui basin area, have mobilized to invest in region-wide CMM
distribution infrastructure.
The purification and liquefaction of CMM offers a potential solution to the market barrier problems.
Technologies to remove impurities of CMM at low temperature have been proven outside of China, and
are under development in China itself; no extra step is required to liquefy once purification has taken
place.
While it would most likely not be economic to sell the product to the petroleum pipeline companies
given the domestic gas pipeline transmission pricing structure, transportation by tanker truck would
allow the CMM plants to sell directly to near or distant distribution companies. They would have the
freedom to seek markets in the relatively wealthy southern coastal areas which depend almost
exclusively on imported gas with which CMM is likely to be more cost competitive (3-3.5 CNY per cubic
meter delivered to citygate), and which have shown a willingness to absorb higher prices.
Given the modest size of the plants and the variability of CMM flows, the plants would likely sell
primarily to the spot or peaking markets. If liquefied CMM accounted for only a small proportion of
supply in a particular region, even distribution companies in less wealthy areas might also be able to
absorb its higher cost relative to domestic pipeline gas.
Liquefied CMM would also likely be cost-competitive with methane produced at coal-to-gas plants
transported by pipeline, which the government is considering as part of the Twelfth Five-year Plan for
natural gas. Media reports suggest that these costs would be as high as 2.1 CNY per cubic meter.
Large-scale development of shale gas, on the other hand, could lower the cost structure of the national
gas industry as it has in the United States, working against the interests of CMM producers. Given the
time required to develop shale gas expertise and build the pipelines necessary for transport of product
to market, this is likely to be a long-term rather than a medium-term issue. In general, the economics of
purified and liquefied CMM should be attractive under conditions where overall supply continues to be
tight, and imported gas is a significant component of the overall natural gas sales base.
While many coal mining companies have considered the LNG option for utilization of their CMM, most
have hesitated to move ahead in view of the high up-front cost relative to other options such as small
distributed power plants, and the lack of reference CMM LNG units in China. As of mid-2012, only small
demonstration facilities constructed by Chinese purification technology developers were in operation.
The Twelfth Five-year Plan calls for development of CMM purification/LNG plants to an "appropriate
degree". The first industrial-scale facility, a 100 million cubic meters per year plant (100 percent
methane basis, with extracted CMM at approximately 40 percent) developed by the Chongqing Energy
Investment Group's Songzao Coal and Electricity Corporation under construction is due in operation in
2013. The success of this flagship project would stimulate the development of a number of additional
facilities in coal mining areas that produced a sufficiently high volume of medium-concentration CMM;
however, Chongqing's low prevailing gas wholesale and retail prices may pose economic challenges for
purification facilities such as Songzao's.
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1.4,2 Provincial Markets for CMM
In Anhui, the cities of Huainan and Hefei have a number of commercial and industrial plants that could
utilize natural gas. Several town gas projects have also been successful. In Anhui, the recent average
wholesale price is 0.345 CNY/kWh; however, mines such as the Liuzhuang mine may pay as high as 0.85
CNY/kWh peak-period power rates, and during more typical conditions, 0.57 CNY/kWh. These rates
make mine site power projects look attractive in Anhui. Regarding natural gas prices, the citygate price
paid in Anhui from the West-to-East Pipeline is similar to retail prices paid by automotive compressed
natural gas (CNG) users in Chongqing and similar long-distance pipeline customers in Guizhou.
Chongqing has one of the oldest and best-developed natural gas distribution infrastructures in China
due to its proximity to the Sichuan gas fields. Its total natural gas consumption grew at about 8.5
percent per year to an estimated 5.8 billion cubic meters from 2005-2011, putting it in the top four
provincial-level consumers on a per capita basis. Supply of natural gas has been the most important
constraint to more rapid growth in consumption. The municipal government estimates that Chongqing
could absorb 15 billion cubic meters by 2015, two and one half times 2011 usage, as urbanization
continues and industry expands.
From a supply-demand point of view, there is no doubt that purified CMM is welcome in Chongqing.
Furthermore, the Municipality's coal mining companies, led by the Songzao Coal and Electricity
Company under Chongqing Energy Investment Group, have recovered significant volumes of methane
for many years for mine area civil use. The Chongqing Gas Group, for a number of years, has purchased
about 20 million cubic meters per year of pipeline quality CMM from the Chongqing Energy Investment
Group's Zhongliangshan Coal Mine located near the municipal center (UNFCCC, 2011).
Despite the striking increase in the volume of Henan's natural gas consumption to 7.4 billion cubic
meters in 2012, natural gas accounted for no more than three to four percent of primary energy supply.
As is the case throughout China, supply is constraining consumption, and will likely continue to do so for
the rest of the decade, barring breakthroughs in supply of shale gas, evident as of early 2014. Industrial
and residential consumption of gas rose substantially between 2009 and 2012. These trends will
continue for the foreseeable future, given the unmet potential for fuel switching in industry and the
desire of urban residents for clean fuel. Natural gas supply will fall short of demand in Henan without
discovery of a major new conventional gas deposit or a breakthrough in shale gas development efforts.
From a supply and demand perspective, the province should be able to absorb all pipeline quality CMM
that becomes available.
Currently natural gas in Guizhou is limited to LNG trucked in and used for a small number of residential
and automotive customers. Guizhou's pipeline network is expected to expand with the China National
Petroleum and Gas Corporation (also known as CNPC or PetroChina) pipeline from Burma completing in
2013. The trunk pipeline will enter Guizhou from Yunnan Province to the west and run a reported 300
km eastward through Anshun Municipality, Guiyang, Duyun Municipality, Dushan and Libo Counties and
onward to Guangxi Province. The Guizhou Gas Group has developed preliminary plans for a network of
branch pipelines from the trunkline, including a line that would run north from Guiyang towards the city
of Zunyi. These developments increase the potential viability of different kinds of CMM projects, as
currently no CMM is known to have been used outside of the immediate mining areas. Guizhou has two
CMM projects, a power generation project and a town gas project.
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Guizhou coal fired power wholesale prices are slightly lower than other provinces. Guizhou's electric
power is expected to remain strongly cost competitive in view of the availability in Guizhou of
inexpensive local coal and water resources. Guizhou is a largely untapped gas market, thus gas prices are
based mostly on pipeline and LNG prices. Cities served by long-distance pipelines are paying a high 2.5-
3.0 CNY/cubic meter.
In Inner Mongolia, low wellhead, gas transmission, and retail sales prices prevailing in the region
surrounding the Changqing gas field present economic obstacles to the sale of purified CMM to either
CNPC for pipeline injection or for sale to local distribution companies. Given the relative abundance of
available conventional gas, it is unlikely that a pipeline would be extended dozens of kilometers to
absorb small volumes from a producer such as the Tai Xi coal mines in Alashan on the west side of the
Yellow River.
LNG presents a much more feasible prospect for CMM producers. The LNG plant offers mines such as Tai
Xi the flexibility to pursue a number of different marketing outlets simultaneously, including local civil
use (a possibility in a location such as Alashan that did not as of 2012 have a local distribution system)
and higher return end-uses such as automotive use and sales to richer provinces with higher prevailing
gas prices.
1.5 CMM Projects In China
Throughout China there are a number of successful CMM projects. China has 67 operating projects
within 14 provinces (GMI, 2014). In China, the main types of CMM use projects are town gas, electricity
generation, industrial boiler fuel feed, vehicle fuel, and thermal applications (e.g., office space heating).
Some Chinese CMM projects involve multiple end uses. As of 2012, China's CMM use projects utilized
3.5 billion m3 of methane (Huang, 2013a). CMM-to-power projects generated a total of more than 1,500
MW of power by the end of 2011 (Huang, 2013b). As of September of 2014, 92 CMM projects have
been prepared for the CDM and approved by the central government; of those, 58 projects have been
registered with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). CERs have
been issued from 30 of these projects (Huang, 2014). The Huainan and Huaibei mining groups have had
success with numerous projects in Anhui province. Anhui has three registered CDM projects: Huaibei
Haizi and Luling Coal Mine Methane Utilization Project, Anhui Huaibei Taoyuan Coal Mine Methane
Utilization Project, and Anhui Huaibei Qinan Coal Mine Methane Utilization Project.
Chongqing has four operating CMM projects (GMI, 2014). Three projects are registered CDM projects:
Zhongliangshan Coal Mine Methane Project, Nantong Coal Mine Methane, and Tianfu Coal Mine
Methane Project. The Chongqing Datong Coal Mine Ventilation Air Methane (VAM) Destruction and
Utilization Project is capable to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 200,000 tonnes of C02e per
year (CMOP, 2010). Chongqing is also home to the world's largest CMM purification and liquefaction
project underway as of 2015, a project facilitated by a USEPA-funded feasibility study.
Henan has nine operating CMM projects and the Hebi area has two. Henan is home to one registered
CDM project, Jiaozuo Coal Mine Methane (CMM) Power Generation Project of Jiaozuo Coal Industrial
Group Co. Ltd., Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. Guizhou has two operating CMM projects and several in
development. Two CMM projects from Guizhou are at the validation phase of the CDM process.
There are multiple benefits to developing CMM projects in China. CMM projects reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, improve mine safety, create jobs, improve local and regional air quality, and provide energy
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independence-of particular importance as China's energy needs are expected to double from 2005 to
2030 (IEA, 2009.1). China has the world's highest CMM emissions, with nearly 13 percent of the world's
total in 2010 (USEPA, 2012). With a booming coal market and government policies to encourage natural
gas and CMM development, CMM projects are expected to continue to be favored.
This synthesis of energy market analyses derived from several comprehensive studies of CMM recovery
and utilization opportunites located in Anhui, Chongqing, Henan, Inner Mongolia, and Guizhou laid the
foundation for this document. Coal dominates China's energy market, and despite years of double digit
growth in the gas industry, current coal consumption is expected to grow even more. Increases in
electricity consumption have surpassed overall economic growth, and because China is a zero
importer/exporter of electricity, its growth has come entirely from domestic generation, which
overwhelmingly is fueled by coal. Though China's government has implemented a number of policies
and mechanisms to encourage conventional and unconventional natural gas, including CMM
development with some success, there are a number of barriers to a widespread and flourishing CMM
market. This report pinpoints the differences found amoung the provincial energy markets. Knowledge
of these differences will provide project developers with information that can be used advantageously
for determining the best approach for successful projects that produce clean energy while reducing
methane emissions. This document supports USEPA's efforts to promote international collaboration to
advance methane capture and use projects that bring more gas to market, and reduce CMM emissions.
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2. Introduction
This document reports the energy market analysis of several comprehensive coal mine methane (CMM)
recovery and utilization feasibility studies that were conducted as a part of a larger initiative funded by
the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). This initiative supports USEPA's efforts
under the Global Methane Initiative (GMI), formerly the Methane to Markets Partnership (M2M). On 1
October 2010, thirty-eight governments, the European Commission, the Asian Development Bank, and
the Inter-American Development Bank launched GMI to urge stronger international action to fight
climate change while developing clean energy and stronger economies. GMI builds on the existing
structure and success of M2M to reduce emissions of methane, while enhancing and expanding these
efforts and encouraging new resource commitments from country partners. GMI is fostering
international collaboration to advance methane capture and use projects that bring more gas to market.
2.1 Background-source of data and analysis
Much of the data in this report comes from China's National Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC), National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC), and the China Energy Statistics Yearbook (CESY);
as well as various news stories and analytical reports such as those completed by the International
Energy Agency (IEA).
2.1.1 Background info on USEPA feasibility and pre-feasibility studies In China
In support of GMI, USEPA's Coalbed Methane Outreach Program (CMOP) has launched five full-scale
feasibility studies of coal mine methane recovery and utilization projects at Chinese coal mines. The
studies assess the technical and economic viability of implementing methane recovery and utilization
projects, with detailed findings and project implementation recommendations compiled in
comprehensive final reports. The information in this study comes from the following feasibility
studies: Feasibility Study of CMM Utilization for Songzao Coal arid Electricity Company Coal Mines (May
2009), Feasibility Study for Coal Mine Methane Drainage and Utilization at Hebi No. 6 Coal Mine, Henan
Province, China (2010), Feasibility Study for CMM Drainage and Utilization at Liuzhuang Coal Mine,
Huainan Coal Field (February 2010), Feasibility Study of CM ation for Guizhou Nengfa Power Fuel
Development Co., Ltd. Linhua Mine Located in Guizhou Province (December 2010), and Feasibility Study
for CMM Drainage and Utilization: Inner Mongolia Tai Xi Group Mines (December 2011). EPA has also
completed pre-feasibility studies in China which include market information used in this report. All The
studies can be found at http://epa.gov/cmop/international/china.html.
2.2 China's energy use
Coal dominates China's energy market with an estimated 69 percent contribution to energy needs in
2011 (EIA, 2014). EIA envisages coal's share of the total energy mix to fall to 63 percent by 2020 and 55
percent by 2040 due to China's desire to reduce heavy air pollution which has affected certain areas of
the country and anticipated increased efficiencies and China's goal to increase its environmental
sustainability; however, absolute coal consumption is expected to double over this period, reflecting the
large growth in total energy consumption due to economic growth (EIA, 2014). China plans to reduce
carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by at least 40 percent from 2005 levels by
2020. China has also announced plans to reduce its energy intensity levels (energy consumed per unit of
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GDP) by 16 percent between 2010 and 2015 and increase non-fossil fuel energy consumption to 15
percent of the energy mix by 2020 (EIA, 2014).
Figure 9 shows estimates of various components' contributions to China's energy mix as estimated by
the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA).
2.3 Summary of China's CMM Activity
Ongoing CMM projects are found in 16 countries. China, Australia, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland,
United Kingdom, and the United States in particular host numerous projects at active mines, while
Germany, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States host many projects at abandoned mines.
China leads the world in reducing CMM emissions by 31.8 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent
(MtC02e) with boiler fuel, combined heat and power, industrial use, power generation, town gas,
ventilation air methane (VAM) destruction, and vehicle fuel projects. China has 92 CMM projects
prepared as CDM Projects and were approved by the central government (Huang, 2014). Australia and
the United States follow with reductions of 9.1 and 7.0 MtC02e, respectively (GMI, 2010; GMI, 2012).
2.4 How to use this document if undertaking CMM projects in China
This document is intended to be used by project developers and carbon finance groups seeking CMM
and VAM emissions reduction opportunities in China. This document provides information and analysis
that can be used to inform decision making processes as a project's scope, location and pro forma
economics are being considered. Information provided herein can aid the developer in determining the
type of emission reduction project that is best suited for the region based on access to infrastructure
that will deliver the product to market, potential customers, and expected range in market prices. The
Hydroelectric
y-6% _ Natural Gas
Other
Renewables
1.0%
FIGURE 9: CHINA'S ENERGY MIX
Source: EIA (2014)
31
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user should conduct due diligence before undertaking a CMM or VAM emission reduction project in
China as the provincial level economy changes rapidly.
The mines that were subjects of the aforementioned feasibility studies, as well as several completed or
underway CMM projects, are referred to in many sections of this report as examples of what can be
done if market research is solid and mine management sees the benefit to commercial project
implementation.
3. Coal Market
3.1 National Coal Market Overview
3.1.1 Growth In China's Coal Production
The large number of suppliers, and in particular the significant role played by small, lightly regulated
mines owned by local governments or private interests, cause official coal production statistics to be less
accurate than those of other forms of energy such as electric power and natural gas. While the overall
patterns described below are based on recently reported official statistics or estimates and are
reasonably reliable, some of the specific numbers may diverge from the underlying reality, and some
inconsistencies can be seen when comparing statistics from different sources. In particular, certain
statistics (e.g., provincial reports on annual output based on "mines of scale") appear to leave out a
substantial portion of small mine production. Even national total output statistics contained in official
documents, which try to account for the entirety, are on occasion revised after release.
3.1.2 Supply/Demand
Coal has consistently accounted for 68-70 percent of China's primary energy since 2000 (Table 1),
(assumed thermal value 5000 kcal/kg), with consumption rising by an average 8.4 percent per year to a
level of 3.77 billion tonnes in 2012, close to 50 percent of the world's total. Despite official calls to
gradually reduce the weight of coal in the energy mix, the percentage actually increased slightly
between 2005 and 2009 as heavy industry surged.
TABLE 1: ESTIMATED COAL CONSUMPTION IN CHINA, 2000-2012
(MILLION TONNES, 5000 KCALYKG THERMAL VALUE AVERAGE)
2000
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Million
tonnes
1,320
2,167
2,390
2,580
2,810
2,958
3,220
3,390
3,765
Percentage of
total primary
energy (%)
68.0
68.9
69.4
69.5
70.3
70.4
68.0
68.4
66.6
Source: CESY (2013), p. 55; NDRC (2008.1); NBSC (2012); EIA (2014)
Table 2 below shows the prevalence of coal in the mix of China's primary energy sources. Domestic coal
production and transport capacity has strained to keep pace with demand in recent years, with output
rising by only 3.6 percent from 2011 to 2012.
32
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TABLE 2: RAW COAL SUPPLY IN CHINA
Year
Production
Exports
Imports
Million
tonnes
Growth (%)
Million
tonnes
Growth (%)
Million
tonnes
Growth
(%)
2000
1,299
NA
55.1
NA
2.2
NA
2001
1,382
6.4
90.1
33.8
2.7
18.5
2002
1,455
5.3
83.9
(7.4)
11.3
76.1
2003
1,722
18.4
94.0
10.7
11.1
(1.8)
2004
1,992
15.7
86.7
(8.4)
18.6
40.3
2005
2,204
9.9
71.7
(20.9)
26.2
29.0
2006
2,373
7.7
63.3
(13.3)
38.1
31.2
2007
2,526
6.4
53.2
(19.0)
51.0
25.3
2008
2,622
3.8
45.3
(14.8)
40.4
(20.8)
2009
2,980
13.6
22.4
(50.5)
125.8
210
2010
3,240
8.9
19.0
(15.2)
164.8
31
2011
3,520
8.7
14.7
(22.6)
182.4
10.7
2012
3,645
3.6
9.3
(36.7)
288.4
58.1
Source: CESY (2008);
(2012); NBSC (2012);
CESY (2010); China Daily (January 27, 2011); China Coal
NBSC (2008); China Customs (2009.1); CESY (2013)
Society (January 17, 2012); China Newsweek
4,000
3,500
§ 3,000
c
o
o *-•
c
o
2,500
u
3
T3
O
g 1,000
¦Production Million
Tonnes
Exports Million Tonnes
300
250
200 £
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
350
50
IS)
ai
c
c
o
4->
c
o
150
100
o
Q.
X
LU
-a
c
to
V)
4->
o
Q.
£
15
o
u
FIGURE 10: CHINA'S RAW COAL SUPPLY
Source: CESY (2013) p. 11, 36
33
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As a result, China has been transformed from a net coal exporter into the world's largest importer, with
net imports reaching 288.4 million tonnes, or 4.8 percent of total consumption on a physical quantity
basis, and over 5 percent on a heat value basis in 2012 (Table 2, Figure 10). Imports are consumed
primarily in the southern and eastern coastal cities, the primary victims of coal transportation
bottlenecks, and in steel mills.
3.1.3 Structure of Demand for Coal
Thermal power generation has been the most important driver for coal industry expansion, accounting
for approximately half of total consumption in recent years, followed by steel and cement, which have
accounted for about 25 percent of the total (Table 3 below). Each of these three core end-use industries
grew by an average 11-12 percent per year from 2005-2012, with slower growth in the most acute years
of the global financial crisis from 2008-2009, and faster growth both before and after.
TABLE 3: COAL END USE
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Total (million tonnes)
2,319
2,551
2,728
2,810
2,958
3,122
3,430
3,526
Industry
92.9%
93.5%
93.9%
94.5%
94.6%
94.8%
95.1%
95.2%
-Electricity and Heat
46.4%
48.0%
49.6%
49.1%
49.4%
48.9%
50.1%
47.7%
-Coking, nuclear fuel,
Petroleum processing
8.5%
9.0%
9.2%
9.4%
9.2%
9.5%
9.9%
10.3%
- Iron and Steel
9.2%
8.8%
8.4%
8.6%
9.0%
9.0%
8.7%
8.6%
- Non-metallic
Minerals
8.6%
8.1%
7.5%
8.2%
8.0%
7.5%
7.3%
7.0%
- Coal
Mining/Washing
6.3%
6.1%
6.5%
6.5%
6.8%
7.4%
7.2%
7.4%
- Chemicals
5.6%
5.4%
5.2%
5.4%
5.1%
4.7%
4.7%
5.0%
Residential
4.3%
3.9%
3.6%
3.3%
3.1%
2.9%
2.7%
2.6%
Other
2.7%
2.6%
2.5%
2.2%
2.3%
2.3%
2.2%
2.2%
Source: CESY (2013) p. 70 - 71
In addition to the coal used directly for the iron and steel industry, almost the entire end product of the
coking category is also used for iron-making. The use of coal as a household fuel has dropped in both
percentage and absolute terms, particularly in urban areas. As a result, Industry's overall share of coal
consumption has risen to 95.2 percent (CESY 2013, pp. 70 - 71).
3.1.4 Demand for Coal through 2015
Coal demand growth since 2000, as noted above, has been fueled by the rapid growth in output of
electric power and heavy industrial commodities such as steel and cement. Demand for these products,
has been driven by double digit economic growth financed by an explosion in exports and centered on
investment in infrastructure, factories (including export processing factories themselves), and urban real
estate (World Bank, 2012).
34
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Investment rose to about 50 percent of GDP over this period, an extremely high number, even for a
transforming economy such as China's. Under these conditions, growth of coal consuming sectors has
averaged 6.1-11.1 percent from 2007-2012 as shown in Table 4.
TABLE 4: ECONOMIC GROWTH AND COAL CONSUMING SECTOR GROWTH
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Average
2007-2012
GDP Growth
13.0%
9.0%
9.7%
10.3%
9.2%
7.7%
9.8%
Thermal Electricity Output
Growth
14.9%
2.5%
6.9%
11.7%
14.8%
5.8%
9.4%
Steel Output Growth
15.9%
2.3%
14.2%
11.4%
7.3%
NA
10.2%
Cement Output Growth
9.7%
4.6%
15.5%
14.8%
10.8%
NA
11.1%
Coal Consumption Growth
6.9%
3.1%
5.2%
8.8%
9.6%
2.8%
6.1%
Source: CESY(2013)
The exception to this pattern occurred in the second half of 2008 to the first half of 2009, when
economic growth slowed to as low as six percent under the combined impact of the global financial
crisis and government-mandated tightening of the real estate market (World Bank, 2012). Production of
steel, cement, and electricity declined in absolute terms during forth quarter 2008 and first quarter
2009.
The investment-centered economy in China recovered quickly, however, as the global economy
stabilized and the Chinese government implemented a 4 trillion CNY (625 billion USD) infrastructure-
centered stimulus program. Previous patterns of growth resumed from the second half of 2009 through
the end of 2011.
Since the beginning of 2012, the Chinese economy has slowed once again under the combined impact of
a foreign shock from Europe, Chinese government efforts to control inflationary real estate transactions,
and the wrap-up of 2008-2009 stimulus spending. As economic growth dropped to a reported 7.6
percent in the second quarter and export growth slowed almost to a halt, output of the coal-consuming
thermal electric power, steel, and cement industries decreased to 2.6, 1.8, and 5 percent respectively by
mid-year (NBSC, 2008-2012; NBSC, 2012.1).
The World Bank projects overall growth at about 8.5 percent from 2011-2015, but with gradual
transition from investment-heavy, industry-led growth (down to 40 percent of total GDP by 2015)
towards a more significant role for consumption (up to about 55 percent by 2015) (World Bank, 2012).
The Plan's target growth rate is seven percent, with the share of services increasing by four percent. In
the government's words, "Increasing consumer demand will be the strategic centerpiece of economic
stimulus and growth. Investment and consumption must be mutually reinforcing" (Xinhuanet, 2011).
The entire focus of the Plan is on quality rather than quantity of growth.
35
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Continuing urbanization (predicted to rise by five percentage points to about 55 percent by 2015),
demand for products such as automobiles, as well as momentum from the past will ensure continued
growth in the coal-consuming power heavy industrial sectors. But they are unlikely to outpace the
economy as a whole by 30 percent or more as in previous years.
A more reasonable projection, once the economy has recovered from the cyclical downturn of 2012, is
for demand for thermal electric power and the other major products using coal as an input to grow at
roughly the same 7-8.5 percent rate as the economy as a whole. This was the prediction of the China
Electricity Council for its own "Rolling Five-Year Plan Estimate" of 2012, and it is what occurred in
practice during the early phase of the rebound from the 2008-2009 slump (China Electricity Council,
2012). However, according to China's Coal Industry Association, production fell in 2014 by 2.5 percent
below the 3.7 billion tonnes produced in 2013, even while China's coal production capacity was being
increased by one billion tonnes (Financial Times, 2015).
In addition to more moderate growth rates for the products that use coal, greater energy efficiency in
the manufacture of these products, combined with some fuel switching to natural gas, will also act to
dampen demand for coal. The major impact of these factors on coal consumption during the 2005-2010
period can be seen in Table 5 below.
TABLE 5: IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF COAL CONSUMERS
Coal Consumers
Annual increase in coal
consumption, ZOOS-
ZOOS
Average increase in
output per year, ZOOS-
ZOOS
Ratio, growth in coal
consumption to output
Z005-Z009
Thermal Electric Power
8.1%
9.9%
0.81
Steel
7.0%
12.9%
0.54
Cement
4.3%
11.2%
0.39
Not all of the potential has been captured. In the thermal power sector, the current reported average
coal consumption rate is 330 grams of standard 7000 /kg) coal per kWh (NEA, 2012). But the 600 MW
supercritical coal boilers and 1000 MW ultra-super-critical boilers that have accounted for virtually all
new coal fired power capacity in China since 2005 have reported coal consumption rates of about 310
and 290 grams per kWh.
As these units continue to replace less efficient smaller scale ( = 300MW) units during the Twelfth Five-
year Plan, it is reasonable to project at least an additional 5 percent decrease in coal consumption per
unit of new power production. Almost all new coal burning capacity will consist either of 600 MW
supercritical units or 1000 MW ultra-super-critical units with estimated coal consumption of 310 grams
of "standard" (7000 kcal/kg) coal per kWh and 290 grams per kWh respectively, compared to reported
330 kWh national average at year-end 2011 (NEA, 2012).
As these new high efficiency units come online, the significant existing stock of lower efficiency 10-300
MW coal-fired units is being gradually shut down, a process that will be well on the way to completion
by the end of the Twelfth Five-year Plan in 2015. Under such circumstances, it is plausible to project at
least a further 4-5 percent drop in coal-fired power plant unit fuel consumption.
36
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If coal-fired power generation increases by 7.5 percent per year and unit coal consumption decreases by
5 percent over the entire 2011-2015 period (i.e., slightly less than 1 percent per year), coal consumption
in the power industry would increase by about 6.4 percent. Given the potential for further efficiency
improvements in the other major sectors, this is probably a reasonable projection for overall increase in
coal demand during the Twelfth Five-year Plan.
3.1.5 Coal Production
3.1.5.1 Coal type
Output of coal by classification in 2010 was approximately as follows (Figure 11):
The Chinese definition of coking coal, which follows former Soviet standards, covers a somewhat
broader range of coals than the western definition does; only about 25 percent of coking coal is actually
used to make coke, the remainder burned for heat in power plants, cement factories, etc. A portion of
China's anthracite coal is also used for power generation, with much of the rest used as raw material for
ammonia fertilizer and other chemical production. China's bituminous non-coking coal is used primarily
for power generation with some used in industry and for heating. Lignite is also used in power
generation.
3.1.5.2 Coal Production Company Ownership
Role of small-scale mines
China's coal mine ownership has been split for many years between: (1) central and provincial
government companies operating large scale, fully mechanized mines (mainly underground) (2) sub-
provincial (county) government companies operating smaller mines with an average capacity of several
FIGURE 11: OUTPUT OF COAL BY CLASSIFICATION, 2010
Source: Gaoping Coal Beneficiation Association (2010); Industrial Futures (2011)
37
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hundred thousand tonnes; (3) 10,000 or more townships, villages and private companies operating
semi-mechanized mines, many with capacities less than 100,000 tonnes.
The short mobilization and construction lead times of the township and village mines gave them a
particular advantage in the early years of the coal boom starting from 2000, as coal prices were partially
freed and the economy took off. As of 2007, the central and provincial level companies accounted for 49
percent of national output, with the township and village mines at 38 percent, and the sub-provincial
mines accounting for the rest (China Coal Society, 2008).
The central government planning and regulatory authorities have long desired to rein in the township
and village mines with their spotty safety records and uneven coal quality control, their inefficient
utilization of coal resources, and their impingement on the operations of larger, more productive mines.
The government has vowed to either shut down mines of less than 300,000 ton per year capacity or to
force their merger with larger, more mechanized operations.
These efforts have born some fruit in recent years. The NDRC reports that the country's 661 mines of
over 1.2 million tonnes capacity accounted for 58 percent of national output in 2010, and that 47 mining
companies with scale of over 10 million tonnes per year (a category that largely overlaps with that of
mines over 1.2 million tonnes) accounted for 63 percent (NDRC, 2012.1). More than 1,100 small coal
mines mines were closed in 2014 and the central government intends to continue closures, targeting
2,000 mines in 2015 and stating that additional mines must be closed in 2016 to meet its goal of having
no more than 10,000 small mines operating. (China Daily, 2014.2)
The government's efforts appear to have achieved the most success in the older mining areas of Henan
and Shanxi (see Henan Coal Section below) by eliminating mines owned by sub-provincial interests in
newer developing areas such as Inner Mongolia and northern Shaanxi, but their average size is most
likely higher than in the older areas (Qinhuangdao Coal Net, 2012).
There remain significant incentives for local governments to maintain mines under their jurisdiction. But
trends in coal supply/demand and pricing may end up somewhat reinforcing the central government's
position. Large coal consumers are more likely to prefer working with the larger, more established mines
in a soft market such as that of mid-2012, and these mines are in a better financial position to weather a
downturn.
Ownership and operation of the modernized mining sector
There has been a clear drive towards consolidation, not just of the small inefficient mines, but also
among the larger mining companies themselves. With government backing, companies that previously
operated only in one locality within a province are now operating mines dozens of miles apart, and
some even operating transprovincially.
The latter include the Shenhua Mining Company, one of two coal mining companies owned by the
Central government, which produced 318.1 million tonnes in 2013 from five mining complexes located
in Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia (Shenhua China, 2014), and the Datong Coal Group owned by the
Shanxi Provincial government, which was number two in the country at 194 million tonnes in 2011.
Shenhua's assets include several underground mines producing over 20 million tonnes from one or two
38
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longwall panels. In addition to these two, three other companies exceeded 100 million tonnes output
(Shenhua Coal Company website; Datong Coal Company website; NDRC, 2012.1).
In some cases from their own initiative to secure coal supply and in others because they have been
pressured to do so by the government, the major government power generators have pursued coal
mine investments and acquisitions. Some move towards vertical integration has also worked in the
other direction as companies such as Shenhua build power generation facilities, and even railroads and
ports.
3.1.5.3 Geographic Distribution
China's coal reserves and production are disproportionately concentrated in the northeastern and
central part of the country as shown below in Figure 12. The two neighboring provinces of Inner
Mongolia and Shanxi accounted for 979 and 872 million tonnes of production, respectively in 2011,
almost 53 percent of the national total. Growth in Shanxi, China's traditional coal powerhouse, has been
gradual compared to Inner Mongolia, where reported output increased by a startling 329 percent from
2006-2011. The bulk of this new production came from the development of rich, previously unexploited
properties made possible by the completion/expansion of a series of railroads to move the coal.
Shaanxi Province in the northwest accounted for an additional 400 million tonnes and 11 percent of
total production. The Shenfu coalfield, which spreads across the border area of Shaanxi and Inner
Mongolia, has provided the bulk of newly commissioned capacity in both provinces. These three
provinces, together with Gansu and Ningxia, and to some extent Xinjiang, are going to account for the
bulk of new production in the foreseeable future. The NDRC has called for 87 percent of the 740 million
tonne capacity expansion that it proposes for the country during the Twelfth Five-year Plan to take place
in these provinces (NDRC, 2012.1).
The three northeastern (Manchurian) provinces provided about 5.5 percent, and the four provinces of
Hebei, Henan, Anhui, and Shandong located south and east of Beijing and north of the Yangtze River
accounted for approximately 11.5 percent. The deposits in these areas have a long exploitation history;
their costs are rising as mines are forced deeper, and they are unlikely to grow at a rapid rate in the
medium-term future.
By contrast, the major Yangtze Delta and Pearl River load center provinces of Jiangsu, Shanghai,
Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, and Guangdong only produced less than 2 percent of the national total. These
areas depend heavily on coal transported by rail from the north central provinces (particularly Shanxi,
Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia) to northern coastal cities such as Qinhuangdao, Huanghua and Tianjin, and
by ship from these cities to their ultimate destinations, supplemented in recent years by imports from
abroad.
The seven inland provinces south of the Yangtze River (Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan,
Guizhou, Yunnan) account for approximately 23 percent of the country's population, but only 12
percent of its coal production. Guizhou, at 156 million tonnes in 2011, per year, is the largest producer
of this group. Although the quantity, coal quality, and mining conditions of deposits in these provinces
(excepting Guizhou) are generally inferior to those in the north, they are nonetheless being developed
to the maximum extent, with northern coal relegated to a supplementary role due to limited north
south rail transport capability and high transport expense (CESY 2008, p.109). The central government
39
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hopes it can gradually change this during the Twelfth Five-year Plan and beyond with more rail
investment, and shut down some of the higher cost, lower-quality producers.
Slightly less than two thirds of China's coal production was shipped by rail for either short or long
distances in 2011, the bulk of which originated in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi. Judging by past
trends, somewhere between one half and two thirds of the production from these three provinces was
transferred southward or eastward. The remainder was used onsite in power plants and chemical
plants, or shipped moderate distances by truck.
Substantial, though not yet sufficient rail capacity has been developed to move the coal from the three
major producing provinces to the northern coastal ports from which it is transported by boat to the
major eastern and southern load centers. A reported 653 million tonnes, or 19 percent of total coal
production, was shipped in this manner in 2011 (China Taiyuan Coal Transaction Center, 2012).
Geographic Distribution of China's
Population and Coal Production
Xinjiang
Explanation
2012 Percent of Coal Productio
•ro%S
t:v
Aggregated Coal Production Areas
Population, 2012
0- 15,000,000
15,000,001 -30,000,000
!¦ 30,000,001 - 50,000,000
H 50,000,001 - 70,000,000
|^| 70,000,001 - 90,000,000
90,000,001 -106,500,000
Shanghai
Zhejiang
puangdong
Hong Kong
0 250 500
1,500
i Kilometers
FIGURE 12: GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF CHINA'S COAL RESERVES AND PRODUCTION 2012
Source: CESY(2013)
3.1,6 Marketing and Pricing
As the central government released control of the large mines to provincial governments during the late
1990s and the turn of the 21st century, it also gradually relaxed control of marketing and pricing in order
to ensure an adequate supply of the country's most important source of primary energy. This decision,
together with a sustained upsurge in coal demand (which had actually dropped in the late 1990s)
transformed coal mining companies from money losers to money earners by 2002, and was a key factor
behind the coal production boom of recent years.
40
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NDRC still maintains a certain degree of influence over coal pricing for power plants, chemical plants,
and households through its oversight of rail transport of coal across provincial boundaries. Under a
system set up in 2010, it fixes quotas for transprovincial coal shipment from each major coal company to
customers in the above mentioned sectors under "long-term contracts" (in most cases, pricing fixed for
one year), for which it guarantees priority shipment in the state-operated railroad system, an important
consideration in a system with chronic rail capacity shortages.
While NDRC does not directly dictate the prices, all agreements negotiated between buyers and sellers
for such contract coal are posted on an online-platform for its review. In practice, the NDRC places
upper limits on these contract prices in accordance with its own views of what is fair to all parties under
market conditions.
In 2012, 835 million tonnes of coal were subject to quota under this system - 24 percent of total 2011
production, perhaps 40-50 percent of both the production of the major modernized producers and of
projected power plant coal consumption, and perhaps 25 percent of chemical fertilizer coal
consumption (NDRC, 2011.2). The goal of the program (by no means fully achieved) is to provide a
modicum of price protection to those sectors whose products are subject to strict government price
controls in the interest of macroeconomic and social stability, and which are therefore unable to pass
coal price increases through to their final customers.
The power plant and fertilizer plants are forced to look to the market for the considerable portion of
their coal requirements not covered under the contract system unless, as is sometimes the case, they
can also get access to coal from in-province producers for which prices are controlled in an ad-hoc
manner by provincial governments. End users such as steel and cement factories who are free to pass
their costs through to final end users are basically left to fend for themselves in the open market.
3.1.7 Recent Market Trends
As the heavy industrial economy boomed, coal producers enjoyed a seller's market starting from the
end of 2009 through the beginning of 2012 as market prices increased at double digit rates, leading to a
two-tiered price structure for steaming coal consisting of:
• Contract coal for power plant users as defined in Section 3.1.6 above, which by the beginning of
2012 had reached approximately 600-630 CNY per ton (USD 94-99) 5500 kcal/kg heat value,
delivered by rail to Qinhuangdao Port on the Bohai Gulf about 150 miles from Beijing. The rail
freight portion can be estimated at approximately 150 CNY (24 USD) per ton (China Securities
Journal, 2012).
• Spot-market coal which peaked at 830 CNY (USD 130) per tonne, delivered to Qinhuangdao in
November 2011 (China Taiyuan Coal Transaction Center, 2012).
The significant differential between the two prices created obvious incentives for contract coal sellers to
withhold shipment and substitute lower-quality coal, which gave rise to a third price tier, consisting
essentially of contract coal sold on the black market at a price roughly halfway between the contract
and spot market price.
The slowdown in thermal electricity, steel, and cement sales in the second quarter of 2012 caused the
free market Qinhangdao-delivered price to collapse to a level only 30-50 CNY per tonne higher than
41
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contract coal according to reports, as coal stockpiles throughout the country soared. This has led to
some speculation that the NDRC could abolish the contract price/transportation quota system, allowing
all coal to be sold at market prices (China Securities Journal, 2012).
While the NDRC did in fact reduce the coal volume covered under the system by about 10 percent in
2012, even prior to the price collapse of the transport quotas, it would be uncharacteristic for it to make
such a major change based on price movements in one quarter (NDRC, 2011.3). The sharp drop,
however, creates more incentives for producers not accustomed to the slack market to agree to longer-
term contracts with customers in order to smooth out volatility.
3.2 Provincial level
3.2.1 Anhui
Anhui Province is located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River.
Anhui is shown in Figure 13 below.
42
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FIGURE 13: MAP SHOWING ANHUI PROVINCE
Anhui Province experienced an average 6.7 and 8.5 percent per year growth in coal production and
consumption, respectively, from 2005-2013 (Table 6). Neither consumption nor production showed the
fluctuations seen in many other provinces in 2008 and 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis.
TABLE 6: AIMHUI PROVINCE COAL PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION, 2005-2013 (MILUON TONNES)
Year
Production
Consumption (including loss
in washing plants)
2005
84.88
83.4
2006
83.32
88.31
2007
92.66
97.84
43
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2008
110.79
113.77
2009
123.98
126.7
2010
130.30
133.7
2011
140.80
143.0 (est.)
2012
150.49
147.0
2013
138.96
NA
Source: CESY 2010, pp. 35, 83; CESY 2011,p. 195; CESY 2013 p. 198; Anhui Statistics Bureau 2011; Anhui
Statistics Bureau 2012; Anhui Statistics Bureau 2013; Anhui Statistics Bureau 2014
3.2.1.1 Demand in Anhui
After increasing at double digit rates for most of the 21st century, coal consumption in Anhui grew at an
average rate of 4.2 percent during 2011-2012 (Table 6, Table 7). The slowdown in the industrial (non-
utility) sector was particularly noteworthy, with consumption actually declining in 2010, and growing at
3.5 percent in 2011-2012, despite double digit growth in traditional consuming industries such as
cement. Consumption in coke ovens also declined even as pig iron output increased. Only in the utility
sector, which accounted for 54 percent of Anhui's coal usage in 2012 (Figure 14), was the 9.5 percent
growth rate of 2010-2012 comparable to earlier years.
TABLE 7: ANHUI COAL CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, 2009-2012 (MILLION TONNES)
2009
2010
2012
Electricity
58.3
65.3
78.4
District Heating
3.4
3.4
3.6
Coking
10.9
11.8
11.5
Industry
44.3
42.9
46.0
Loss in washing plants
4.8
4.3
3.7
Residential
3.1
3.4
1.5
Other
1.8
2.65
2.3
Source: CESY 2013, p. 198; CESY 2011, p. 194; 2010, p. 166
A portion of the slowdown probably resulted from displacement of coal by newly arrived natural gas
(CESY, 2011; CESY, 2013). Growing use of gas is also the reason why burning of coal as a residential fuel
in Anhui dropped from about 3.8 million tonnes in 2010 to a reported 1.5 million in 2012. It is doubtful
that increased efficiencies played a significant role in the decline in coal consumption relative to
industrial output increase, especially in industries such as cement and steel. Even in the power sector,
the growth rate of generation from coal-fired power plants exceeded that of coal consumption by more
than a percentage point, as larger units gradually replaced smaller ones.
44
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Washing loss
FIGURE 14: ANHUI COAL CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, 2012
Source: CESY(2013)
Given the pace of power plant construction in Anhui and the demand for Anhui's power in the
neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it can be reasonably assumed that Anhui coal-fired
power generation will continue to increase at least in the 8-10 percent range for the medium-term.
Power plant coal consumption has been lagging by a percentage point or two (see Anhui power section,
below), increasing by perhaps 7-8 million tonnes per year.
3.2.1.2 Demand Outside of Anhui
As the coal production base closest to the major consumption centers in the East China coastal
provinces, Anhui's coal production has been driven in the past by demand in these provinces as well as
by growth in Anhui itself. In 2012, Anhui producers shipped 40 million tonnes outside the province,
including the majority of its washed coal, matching the previous historical high (Table 8). Coking coal
shipments from the Huaibei Mining Company to Bao Steel in Shanghai and other steel manufacturers
accounts for a significant proportion. The State Council's Environmental Action Plan of 2013, which calls
for coal consumption in the Delta provinces to begin to decrease by 2017 and requires that additional
units at existing coal-fired power plants in these provinces displace at least an equal amount of
consumption elsewhere, likely means an end to any significant growth in Anhui's coal shipments to the
provinces (Table 8). These shipments are likely declining due to competitive difficulties faced by the
Anhui coal companies, discussed below.
TABLE 8: COAL SALES INTO AND OUT OF ANHUI (MILLION TONNES
Year
Into Anhui
Out of Anhui
2005
23.74
25.65
2007
33.64
29.51
2009
33.65
40.09
2010
38.51
38.57
2012
37.99
40.02
Source: CESY 2013, p, 198; CESY 2011, p. 194; CESY 2010, p.166
45
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3.2.1.3 Production and Industry Structure
Virtually all of Anhui's coal output originates from four large mining groups: Huainan, Huaibei, Xinji and
Wanbei. All except Xinji report to Anhui Province. Huainan produced 68.75 million tonnes of raw coal in
2013 from 13 mines, which was almost entirely bituminous steaming coal (Huainan Mining Group
website). In 2012, Huaibei produced 37.11 million tonnes of raw coal from 22 mines. Approximately 11
million tonnes of metallurgical coal was produced, with the remainder being bituminous steam coal
(China Coal Society, 2013). The Xinji Group in Huainan produced 19.9 million tonnes of bituminous
steaming coal in 2013 from five mines, with a sixth under construction. The largest investor to the
group is the central-government owned State Development Investment Corporation (Xinjin Group
Annual Report, 2013). The Wanbei (North Anhui) Coal and Electricity Company in Suzhou City, produced
19.2 million tonnes in 2012 from 20 mines (China Coal Society, 2013).China's macroeconomic slowdown
of 2012-2013 and the end of the 10-year coal boom market has had a profound effect on Anhui's coal
industry. With growth in national coal consumption dropping to perhaps 2.5 percent per year nationally
by 2013 and a severe glut in new low-cost capacity in Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia, market prices for
5500 kcal/kg power plant coal declined by one third from 800 CNY per tonne year-end 2011 to about
530 CNY per tonne in April 2014. The market price for 5000 kcal/kg coal sold by many Anhui producers
had fallen to about 450 CNY per tonne (Xingnong Network, 2014).
Anhui mines, many of which are gassy and over 600 meters deep, are not cost-competitive with the
Inner Mongolia/Shaanxi mines or with many of the foreign suppliers that are increasing their sales in
Chinese markets. Mining costs at Huaibei, which are probably representative, were reported at about
511 CNY per tonne, with another 15 CNY per tonne for washing; with a washing loss of as much as 20
percent, this amounts to an effective cost of 650 CNY per tonne for cleaned coal (Huaibei Municipal
Price Bureau, 2012).
Through 2011, Anhui mines had sold about half their steam coal to key end-users under annual contract
prices at about 480 CNY per tonne (5000 kcal), more than making up for the loss on these sales with
revenue from the remainder sold at market prices. By 2013, however, with market prices at or beneath
the original contract prices, this cushion disappeared. Every major producer in the province lost money
on coal operations, including Huaibei, which could still command higher prices for its metallurgical coal;
cumulative losses amounted to a reported 3.5 billion CNY, or 20 CNY per tonne. Anhui's handful of
smaller mines were put out of business, and production at some of the larger mines contracted due to
market conditions (Market Weekly, 2014).
As Table 6 shows, province-wide output in 2013 was lower than 2012 production by 11.5 million tonnes,
or 7.7 percent. Production at Huainan appears to have declined by over 7 million tonnes or 10 percent
(Huainan Mining Group Website; China Coal Supply Net, 2013). Undoubtedly the Anhui producers lost
some market share with customers outside of the province to which they had become accustomed to
selling at market prices, given the easy access of the Yangtze Delta provinces to imported coal or water
shipments from the north. Judging by reports of pressures on the provincial government to induce
Anhui enterprises to purchase locally, some in-province share was lost as well, in a year when provincial
coal consumption increased order of magnitude of 4 percent (China Management Newspaper, 2013).
Shipments from the north were already rising during the coal boom market as supply within the
province tightened.
46
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The large producers were able to cover their losses through non-coal operations, including real estate
and, in many cases, coal-fired power plants; investments which became increasingly profitable as coal
prices declined. Huainan Coal Group's 50 percent ownership shares in the Fengtai and Tianji Power
plants dispatched directly to Zhejiang and Shanghai are the highest profile examples; Huainan Coal
claims partial stakes in a total of 14 power plants with aggregate 13,000 MW capacity, sufficient to
consume over 30 million tonnes of coal per year (Huainan Mining Group website). Under new market
conditions, Anhui coal companies are attempting to expand their ownership shares in power plants to
guarantee both market share and a piece of the power generation upside, showing a contrast to earlier
years when power plants looked to invest in coal mines to guarantee coal supply and a piece of the
mining upside. The decline in market price may also spur further investments in integrated coal-
chemical enterprises, such as Wanbei's nitric acid plant.
As of 2014, it is not clear how the situation will resolve itself if market prices do not rebound
significantly in the short term, particularly for mines that lack long-term contractual relationships with
downstream users such as power plants. It is unlikely that new investments in coal projects will take
place in Anhui under the conditions of early 2014, outside those in coking coal, which can still be sold at
1000 CNY per tonne as of early 2014, or steaming coal tied to specific power projects. Instead, the
Anhui mining companies are focusing their new investments outside the province, led by Huainan
Mining Group, which is developing four mines in Inner Mongolia with total design capacity of 40 million
tonnes. The first two of these went into preliminary operation in late 2013. The profits from these lower
cost mines in Inner Mongolia could help Huainan to bear the burden of continuing operations in Anhui if
market prices do not improve. The coal market risk is a factor meriting some research for potential
investors in specific CMM utilization projects in Anhui.
3.2.2 Chongqing
Chongqing, one of the five Chinese municipalities with provincial level economic status, is a major
manufacturing and transportation center that is the economic hub of Southwest China and the Upper
Yangtze River Valley, with a population of approximately 33 million. Approximately 2 million live in the
central city and its immediate suburbs, with the remainder in 40 counties and satellite towns scattered
through its 82,000 square kilometers. Fueled by a rapid pace of urbanization and some shift in overall
investment towards the interior of China, its economic growth averaged 15 percent from 2005-2010,
almost 50 percent higher than the national average. Chongqing Municipality is shown in Figure 15.
47
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FIGURE 15: MAP SHOWING CHONGQING MUNICIPALITY
3.2.2.1 Supply and Demand
As Chongqing's growth accelerated, coal consumption grew from 2005 to 2012 to a level of
approximately 67 million tonnes per year. Power and cement plants have been the largest drivers of
coal consumption growth. A major steel mill also accounts for a significant share of consumption (Table
9).
TABLE 9: ESTIMATED COAL CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION IN CHONGQING (MILLION TONNES)
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Consumption
(million tonnes)
33.3
37.4
40.8
52.7
57.81
60
NA
67.50
-Power Plants
10.8
12.0
17.6
NA
16.5
NA
NA
15.5
-Cement
3.4
NA
3.8
NA
4.0
NA
NA
NA
-Steel
13.7
NA
13.6
NA
28.5
NA
NA
NA
Production
36.2
39.9
42.9
46.7
42.9
45.5
44.6
35.7
Source: CESY 2008, p.92, 109; CESY 2010, p. 35, 206; CESY 2013, p. 258; Chongqing Bureau of Statistics 2011 and 2012;
Chongqing Economic Commission 2007
Historically, the difficulties of transporting coal over the mountains from the north have forced
Chongqing to rely primarily on its own coal production, despite the limited size, complex geology, high
recovery costs, and mediocre quality of the municipality's high sulfur anthracite deposits. Starting from
2008, Chongqing became a progressively larger net coal importer as its own production plateaued
(Table 9). Most incoming coal originated in Shaanxi Province to the north, with the remainder coming
from Guizhou to the south.
48
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Chongqing has been hit hard by the deceleration of economic growth throughout China in the first half
of 2012. As the demand for power and heavy industrial commodities has moderated, its coal mines are
no longer able to sell all their output, and losses have mounted. When the shorter term causes of
economic deceleration subside, such as the Western European recession and cutback in domestic real
estate transactions, growth in coal consumption is expected to resume.
However, demand is unlikely to rise in the medium-term at the same pace as 2005-2010. The most
explosive phase of Chongqing's urbanization is over, and the city will likely grow close to the nationally
projected average of 7-8.5 percent. If, as the central government projects, the focus of growth shifts
somewhat in the direction of consumption, the major coal consuming industries will grow no faster than
the overall rate of economic growth, and demand for coal will grow at a somewhat slower rate due to
increased energy efficiencies.
If for some reason the demand resumes its explosive growth rate, supply could become a significant
constraint. Given the limited volume and poor quality of Chongqing's reserves, it will be difficult to raise
municipal production rapidly. Large-volume increase in shipments from northern coal surplus provinces
such as Shaanxi will require major investments in north-south railroad lines (Qinghuangdao Coal Net,
2011).
The central government wishes for these investments to be made, and for high quality coal from the
north to gradually displace coal mined in Chongqing. This will be a gradual process that takes place over
a longer time perspective than covered by the Twelfth Five-year Plan (2011-2015) (NDRC, 2012.1).
3.2.2.2 Production and Marketing of Coal by the Chongqing Energy Investment Group
Of Chongqing's reported 44.6 million tonnes of coal production in 2011, approximately 13.5 million, or
30 percent, originated from the five mechanized, modernized mines of scale operated by the five mining
companies under the Chongqing Energy Investment Company (CQEIG) owned by the municipal
government: Songzao (5 million tonnes); Yongrong (3.5 million tonnes); Nantong (2.5 million tonnes);
Tianfu (two million tonnes) and Zhongliangshan (750,000 tonnes). Their production increased at a rate
of roughly three percent per year between 2008 and 2011. Because of the difficult mining conditions in
Chongqing itself, some of the CQEIG companies are developing new production in neighboring Guizhou
Province, and the CQEIG is considering investments in mines as far away as Xinjiang Province in the
northwest (Chongqing Coal Safety Website; CQEIG 2012).
The remainder of Chongqing's coal production comes from smaller, less mechanized mines operated by
lower levels of government in Chongqing or by private interests. Production in these mines has
fluctuated, and they will bear the brunt of any cutback in demand or displacement by coal from the
north. But at least as of early 2012, the municipality and central governments were still considering the
construction of a large new power plant in one of the poorer satellite areas of the municipality fueled by
local coal deposits in those areas.
CQEIG controls both the distribution and the pricing of 80-90 percent of the 13-14 million tonnes of coal
produced by its five mining companies. This coal is allocated mainly to the municipality's large power
plants and steel mills, but only fills a part (perhaps 50-75 percent) of their demand, the remainder of
which is met by spot purchase from smaller local mines or from mines outside the province.
49
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The Chongqing government strictly controls the price that CQEIG can charge power plants in the city.
These prices have traditionally been set at one third to one half of market prices. By contrast, the CQEIG
can charge market prices to industrial users within the city or to customers outside the province. This is
an important reason why, despite the deficit of supply within the city, Chongqing coal producers have
continued to sell as much as 20 percent of output to customers in other provinces. Virtually all the coal
from non-CQEIG mines is sold at market prices, both in Chongqing and to other regions.
3.2.3 Hebi Area/Henan Province
Henan Province is located in Central China and Hebi, located in the north of the province, is situated in
mountainous terrain at the edge of the Shanxi plateau. Henan Province and Hebi are shown in Figure 16.
FIGURE 16: MAP SHOWING HENAN PROVINCE
Both supply and demand for coal in Henan fluctuated during 2005-2013 as shown in Table 10. While
some of these changes were due to short-term factors, the province's transformation from net coal
exporter to net coal importer is likely to endure.
TABLE 10: SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR COAL IN HENAN, 2005-2013
Production (million tonnes)
Consumption (million tonnes)
2005
187.61
184.68
2006
195.32
210.03
2007
192.87
231.71
50
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2008
208.87
238.68
2009
230.18
244.45
2010
213.49
260.50
2011
187.2
NA
2012
158.78
252.40
2013
153.00
NA
Source: CESY 2013, pp. 222-223; CESY 2011, pp. 218-219; CESY 2010, p. 83; HSB 2011; HSB 2012; HSB 2013; Coal
Research Network 2014
3.2.3.1 Supply and Industry Structure
Coal production in Henan, one of China's oldest coal producing regions, contracted by 77 million tonnes,
or a factor of one third, between 2009 and 2013, as the province became a major net coal importer for
the first time (Table 10). The bulk of the drop occurred in 2009-2012, while the boom market for coal
was still in effect, and was the result of conscious policy decisions more than market forces.
As of 2009, approximately 40 percent of output originated from hundreds of low technology mines
owned by sub-provincial government or township entities with less than 300,000 tonnes per year
capacity and often with safety records that have attracted close attention by the provincial mine safety
bureaus' safety records. Determined to rationalize production and improve safety, the provincial
government, with strong central support, enacted a program that shuttered 250 mines producing less
than 150,000 tonnes per year, and pushed for 498 mines producing between 150,000 and 300,000
tonnes per year to merge and reorganize under the leadership of five major modernized coal companies
owned by the provincial government. A further 182 of these reorganized mines had been closed by the
end of 2012, with another 77 recommended for shut down, and the remaining mines shuttered while
undergoing safety recertification (China Medium and Small Enterprise Management and Technology,
2013).
As of 2012-2013, over 75 percent of provincial production originated from the following companies:
• The Henan Energy and Chemical Group based in the north and east of the province, owns both
anthracite and bituminous mines reporting output of 45 million tonnes in 2012. (China Coal
Society, 2013);
• The Yima Group in Western Henan, with approximately 18 million tonnes primarily of steaming
coal output from 21 mines in Henan in 2012. In late 2013, this group was acquired by Henan
Energy and Chemical (Yima Mining Group Credit Rating, 2014);
• The Zhengzhou Coal Group near the provincial capital, output 20.67 million tonnes in 2012
(Zhengzhou Mining Group Website); and
• The Shenhuo Group, a major aluminum producer based in Shangqiu, East Henan, with 15 million
tonnes of capacity 2012 (Shenhuo Group website).
Overall, anthracite coal (sold primarily to power plants) accounts for about 40 percent of Henan's
output, with coking coal 20 percent, and thermal bituminous coal the remainder.
The approximately one third drop in China coal spot market prices in 2012-2013 placed considerable
financial pressures on Henan's major coal producers, saddled as they were with the extra costs
associated with upgrading the smaller mines. The Zhongping group remained profitable due to the high
51
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percentage (40 percent) of its tonnage sold to steel mill coke ovens. The Henan Energy and Chemical
group, which sells primarily thermal coal, lost money in 2013, with the profits from the Yongcheng
subsidiary insufficient to cover losses from its other units, including Hebi (Henan Energy and Chemical
Bond Prospectus).
Like other producers from long-established mining areas, Henan mines are not cost-competitive with
the flood of new mines coming on-stream from new mining areas in Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia.
Administrative guidance from the provincial government for Henan power plants to source coal in-
province has given some protection to their market; however, pricing pressures are still present. Mining
groups such as Hebi, which supplies a self-owned 1200 MW power plant which is adding an additional
1200 MW in 2014, is at least in a position to capture profit from their power plant investments. Like
their counterparts in Anhui, the Henan producers are concentrating the bulk of their new investments in
Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang to the north and northwest, and even Guizhou in the southwest, and may end
up in effect subsidizing their Henan operations from new operations outside the province until prices
improve.
3.2.3.2 In-Province Demand
After growing by approximately 8 percent per year during 2006-2010, coal consumption in Henan
declined by about 8 million tonnes (equivalent to three percent) in 2011-2012. As shown in Table 11, the
overall decrease resulted from the steep reduction in industrial and coke oven usage. Perhaps 3.5 to
four million tonnes of the aggregate 27 million tonne decline in these sectors resulted from fuel
switching to natural gas with industrial consumption increasing by 2.5 billion cubic meters in Henan over
the same 2010-2012 period. The most important cause was the nationwide macroeconomic slowdown
resulting from the end of the government stimulus program of 2009-2011 and restrictions on lending to
real estate, which had a particularly strong impact on construction, exposing major overcapacity in
major coal consuming sectors such as iron and steel.
Henan's industries faced serious competitive difficulties relative to some other regions; steel output
contracted by 7.5 percent, output of non-ferrous metals grew by less than one percent, and flat glass
output dropped by almost 40 percent between 2011 and 2012 (HSB, 2013). The shuttered capacity,
furthermore, most likely belonged to the least efficient producers with the highest coal consumption per
unit of output, magnifying the impact on coal demand. By contrast, generation by Henan's coal-fired
plants, collectively the most important coal end-users in Henan, increased by an average 8.7 percent
from 2010-2013. Substitution of large efficient generating units replacing smaller, less efficient ones
meant that coal use grew at a slightly slower rate than power generation, though not as low as
suggested by the gross tonnage figures in Table 11; possibly the average fuel value of coal burned by the
power plants increased with Henan's growing use of high quality coal from Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and
Shaanxi. Coal-fired power generation in Henan can be projected to increase at perhaps six to seven
percent per year for the three to four year future (Henan Electric Power Section, below), which would
mean an additional 30-35 million tonnes of new coal demand (5500 kcal/kg).
Consumption in other sectors is more difficult to project and depends critically on overall
macroeconomic trends. At some point, the overcapacity shakeout in sectors such as metals will be
completed; Henan's steel output in fact rebounded sharply in 2013. As a populous inland province
located relatively close to the major economic centers of the country, Henan's overall economy will
52
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likely continue to grow faster than the national economy as a whole as manufacturers relocate some
facilities from the coast. However, the kind of manufacturing that relocates will not necessarily be of the
high coal consumption type. Figure 17 shows Henan's coal consumption by sector.
TABLE 11: COAL CONSUMPTION BY END USER, 2009-2012 (MILLION TONNES)
2009
2010
2012
Thermal Power
94.0
104.6
115.4
District Heating
8.0
9.4
10.9
Loss in Coal Washing
15.3
16.29
19.3
Coking
29.0
35.9
31.6
Industry
81.9
82.9
59.3
Residential
10.7
7.9
11.4
Other
5.6
3.5
4.5
Total
244.5
260.5
252.4
Source: CESY 2013, pp. 222-223; CESY 2011, pp. 218-219; CESY 2010, pp, 182-183
FIGURE 17: HENAN COAL CONSUMPTION BY END USER, 2012
Source: CESY 2013, pp. 222-223
3.2.3.3 Demand for Hebi Coal
Hebi's low volatile bituminous coal is suitable primarily for power plant and industrial use, with some
output from its washing plant also injected into steel mill blast furnaces. An 1800 MW mine mouth
power plant partly owned by Hebi Mining Group consumes four to 4.5 million tonnes per year. A 1320
MW addition to this plant is scheduled to come online in the 2015-2016 period, and should boost
demand for coal by 2.5 million tonnes. An additional 4100 MW of coal-fired generating capacity are
located within 60 km of Hebi, and thousands of additional megawatts of capacity are in various stages of
planning (ChinaPower, 2014.1).
Prior to the plunge in coal prices, Hebi Mining Group supplied a reported 30 percent of the
requirements of two of these plants with 1200 MW capacity located in Anyang City, a sign that it strives
53
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to maintain a diverse customer base rather than selling only to plants in the immediate vicinity. Like
other large state-owned mines, it strove to maintain a balance between sales to traditional large
customers under one-year contracts, and spot sales to customers of all kinds, which allow it to take
advantage of the continuous rise in spot prices through 2011. With market prices dropping, the
proportion of sales to the local power industry is undoubtedly higher.
3.2.4 Guizhou
Guizhou is a mountainous province located in southwestern China. Guizhou Province is shown in Figure
18.
FIGURE 18: MAP SHOWING GUIZHOU PROVINCE
3.2.4.1 Supply and Demand
Guizhou accounts for approximately five percent of China's coal supply and perhaps three percent of its
demand. Supply and demand from 2007-2012 are shown below in Table 12.
TABLE 12: GUIZHOU COAL SUPPLY AND DEMAND (MILLION TONNES)
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Production
108.6
118.0
136.9
159.5
NA
181.1
Consumption
106.6
97.3
109.1
119
NA
133.3
Out of Province
Sales
26.9
NA
27.5
40
NA
42.2
54
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Source: CESY 2013, p. 270, CESY 2010, pp. 35, 83, 214; CESY, 2008, p. 214; CESY, 2006, p. 218; GSB, 2011; Guizhou Government
Website, 2011
Guizhou has traditionally been a coal exporting province, shipping 25-30 million tonnes to outside
customers in recent years. The Panzhihua Steel Mill in neighboring Sichuan Province is a major
designated customer, consuming approximately 2.5 million tonnes of Guizhou coking coal, with most of
the remaining shipments outside the province consisting of raw steaming coal sold in small lots to
utilities and industrial facilities in Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan and Guangxi. In addition to growth of
consumption inside the province, rail transport bottlenecks have limited the volume of shipments
outside the province (Gangl23, 2009; Okuno, 2006).
Electric power accounts for close to half of Guizhou's coal consumption, with other industrial uses such
as aluminum, chemical fertilizer feedstock, and coking accounting for most of the remainder (Figure 19).
Residential consumption has declined steadily as urban residents have been hooked to the coal gas
network, and now constitutes an insignificant percentage of the total.
The Guizhou Coal Bureau has projected in-province demand growth at 11.5 percent per year from 2010-
2015 to approximately 170 million tonnes, driven largely by the electric power plant construction
program discussed in Section 4.5.2. The Bureau estimates that power plant demand will jump to as
much as 58 percent of the provincial total by that time (Guizhou Government, 2011).
Based on known mine development plans, the Guizhou Coal Bureau targets provincial coal production to
reach approximately 210 million tonnes in 2015, allowing for approximately 40 million tonnes of
shipments outside the province. Even if in-province demand grows at a somewhat lower rate than the
Bureau's projections, chronic coal shortages in the southern and western provinces surrounding
Guizhou such as Guangdong, Sichuan and Chongqing, Hunan, and Yunnan, should ensure sufficient
demand for all coal produced in the province assuming transport capacity is commensurately increased.
Building
Material:
10%
FIGURE 19: GUIZHOU COAL CONSUMPTION, 2010
Source: Guizhou Government (2011)
55
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The proximity of Guizhou to these provinces makes its coal cost competitive with alternative sources in
North China.
Guizhou's coal quality also makes it relatively attractive to neighboring provinces, especially vis-a-vis
other southern and southwestern Chinese coals, much of which are high sulfur anthracite. Much of
Guizhou's coal, by contrast is low-sulfur bituminous coal or semi-anthracite, and the province is virtually
the only source of coking coal in south and southwest China.
3.2.4.2 Production
The Guizhou coal industry is spearheaded by three large, modernized provincially-owned companies
established in the 1960s with current aggregate production of approximately 20 million tonnes, which
typically sell under one-year contracts to their larger consumers: Shuicheng (10-11 million tonnes);
Panjiang (13 million tonnes); and Liuzhi (3-4 million tonnes) (Guizhou Government, 2011). Remaining
production, which now totals over 100 million tonnes, has traditionally come from hundreds of smaller,
less mechanized mines owned at the sub-provincial level which sell under spot contracts. The quality of
these coals, in particular their ash content, is also uneven compared to the larger mines in the province
(Guizhou Daily, 2010; Shuicheng Mining Group Website).
The central government's drive to consolidate these smaller mines to a capacity level of at least 300,000
tonnes and to close the most dangerous and least efficient accounts for the temporary slump in
production in 2007-2008 (Table 12 above). The provincial and central governments are also making a
concerted drive to introduce larger, better funded, and better managed investors to take the lead in
new mine development. In addition to the three major in-province companies, these include companies
such as the Shandong Yanzhou Coal Mining Group, which is developing a series of mines with aggregate
capacity of over 12 million tonnes, as well as major utility coal consumers such as Nengfa's parent
company China Power Investment.
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3.2.5 Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is a large province located in northern China. Inner Mongolia is shown in Figure 20.
FIGURE 20: MAP SHOWING INNER MONGOLIA
Coalfields and Production
TABLE 13: INNER MONGOLIA COAL PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Production
256
298
354
502
601
787
979
1,042
Consumption
140
162
186
222
240
NA
NA
366
Shipments to
other
provinces
128
NA
175
NA
384
NA
NA
711
Source: CESY 2013 p. 156, CESY (2009)
The stunning four-fold growth in Inner Mongolia's coal industry from 2005-2012 (Table 13), which has
earned it a 25 percent market share in China and catapulted its output beyond that of all countries
outside of China, results mainly from the Chinese government's decision to make huge amounts of
inexpensive capital available for exploitation of the following almost virgin deposits.
Shenfu-Dongsheng and Zhunge'er is in Ordos Municipality in the western part of the province just north
of the Shaanxi border. The 31,000 square km Shenfu-Dongsheng field, which overlaps Inner Mongolia
and Shaanxi, has reported coal reserves of 223 billion tonnes. The Inner Mongolian portion of Shenfu-
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Dongsheng, when combined with the neighboring Zhunge'er field, accounts for approximately half of
these reserves. These deposits consist of high-quality steaming coal with high volatile (31-40 percent),
low-ash (6-10 percent), low sulfur content (0.4-0.7) and thermal value of 23-24.5 MJ/kg, which is
superior to most other coals in China. Mining conditions are also favorable, with little faulting, gently
dipping, relatively shallow depth below surface (74-152 meters in a representative underground mine)
and thick seams (4-7 meters is typical) (Guoha Power Corporation, 2005). The Zhunge'er field produces
nearly 50 million tonnes per year from two open pit mines. With the addition of output from Shenfu-
Dongsheng, Ordos Municipality as a whole mined 597 million tonnes of coal in 2011, which is over 60
percent of Inner Mongolia's output.
Shengli is in Xinlinhaote Municipality in the central part of the province, hundreds of miles north of
Beijing. The deposit has reported reserves of 22.4 billion tonnes of lignite coal (approximately 13 MJ/kg)
hundreds of meters thick. Two open pit mines (out of a total of 5 planned) produced approximately 50
million tonnes of coal in 2011. The Yuanbaoshan, Huoline, Yiminhe, and Zhalainuo'er lignite fields are in
the northeastern part of Inner Mongolia adjoining Manchuria. These fields have been in production
since the 1980s, but can still be mined by open pit. Together they produced over 100 million tonnes in
2011.
A number of smaller deposits have been mined for longer periods of time. The most significant of these
include:
• Wuhai, in the city of the same name just west of Ordos and north of Ningxia Autonomous
Region (Province), which produced approximately 12 million tonnes of coking coal in 2011.
• Alashan, including the Tai Xi mines west of Ningxia, which produced approximately 12 million
tonnes of anthracite in 2011.
• Baotou and Huhehaote, near Inner Mongolia's two largest cities.
3.2.5.1 Development and Structure of the Inner Mongolia Coal Industry
The central government laid the groundwork for the Inner Mongolia coal boom in the 1990s through
investment in a series of special use railroads to transport coal from the Shenfu-Dongsheng and
Zhunge'er fields to the coast, from where it could be shipped to southern load centers:
• The Datong (Shanxi)-Qinhuangdao Por line runs 638 km, with its capacity upgraded to over 400
million tonnes by 2011.
• The Zhunge'er-Datong line runs 264 km, and transported 74.6 million tonnes in 2011.
• The Shenmu (Shaanxi)-Shuozhou (Shanxi)-Huangha Port line runs 854 km, and its capacity was
upgraded to approximately 150 million tonnes 2011.
The latter two lines, as well as the Huanghua Port itself, are owned by the Shenhua Group and
established by the central government for the special purpose of developing the Shenfu-Dongsheng
coalfield. Through organic growth as well as government-supported mergers and acquisitions, Shenhua's
production reached 400 million tonnes in 2011, placing it in the world's Fortune 500 companies
(Shenhua website). Of this amount, about half came from the company's flagship subsidiary Shendong
Coal Group operating in Shenfu-Dongsheng (estimated 80-90 million in Inner Mongolia, remainder in
Shaanxi), including the 25 million tonne per year Bulianta mine, the largest underground mine in the
world. A separate Shenhua subsidiary operates the two Zhunge'er open pits noted above, another one
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of the large Shengli deposit open-pits, and still others at older mines in Inner Mongolia (Shenhua
website).
Many operators in addition to Shenhua have gained access to property in Ordos Municipality, including
other major coal producers such as the Datong group and companies affiliated with various parts of the
Inner Mongolian local government, and private companies that enjoy local government backing. While
there is undoubtedly room for rationalization, a number of the mines run by the local companies are
considerably larger scale and more modernized than the stereotypical local mines in the older mining
areas which the central government is attempting to shut down. As many as 50 companies in Inner
Mongolia produce 10 million tonnes per year or more.
While the bulk of the production in Ordos is shipped outside the province, Shenhua has also developed
mine mouth power plants in line with its mandate from the central government. Conversely, the five
national power generation companies have purchased coal assets in Inner Mongolia both for mine
mouth plants and for use elsewhere, including the big lignite deposits in the northeastern part of the
province.
3.2.5.2 Demand for Inner Mongolia's Coal
Outside of Inner Mongolia
The Inner Mongolian coal boom has been driven primarily by demand in the Yangtze Delta and southern
coastal provinces. Shipments outside the province - overwhelmingly to these areas through the new
railroads listed above - grew at a 32 percent rate from 2005-2009 (Table 13).
The overall economic slowdown and consequent collapse of the coal market boom throughout China in
the first-half of 2012 has affected Inner Mongolia severely, with many mines reducing production, or
even shutting down part time. The drop in price has brought about losses for a number of suppliers,
including the large open-pit lignite mines (Coal Consulting Net, 2012; China Coal Resource, 2012).
While it is safe to predict that Inner Mongolia companies will benefit more than higher cost, lower
quality producers in other provinces when the slump ends, it is difficult to predict how quickly this will
happen, and what the longer-term changes in the pattern of demand for coal will be. If the economy
experiences a soft landing and reorients somewhat away from investment towards consumption, and
coal usage nationwide grows at 4-6 percent per year rather than 8 percent, it seems reasonable to
project that the growth in demand for Inner Mongolia's coal would be an order of magnitude 10-15
percent per year rather than the 32 percent characteristic of the boom period. But it remains possible
that a harder landing will constrain demand for a longer time and to a greater extent than has been
previously anticipated.
One mitigating factor would be the opening of new domestic markets, in particular the inland Yangtze
River provinces that Inner Mongolia has not served due to transport bottlenecks and the focus on
supplying the coastal provinces. For the first time, there is serious discussion of a major north-south
dedicated trunk railroad to transport coal to this region: a proposed 1847 km line from Erdos through
Hubei and Hunan Provinces terminating in Jiangxi.
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In August 2012, a variety of coal and railroad interests, including Shenhua, announced progress towards
a commercial agreement to construct this line, noting that it is a "key project" of the central
government's Twelfth Five-year Plan. While the central government's principal motivation would be to
improve supply of high-quality coal to a resource-poor and chronically underserved area, the interests
concerned are clearly motivated to find an outlet for Inner Mongolian coal during the economic
slowdown (China Economic Net, 2012).
Inside Inner Mongolia
Compared to demand from other provinces, demand for Inner Mongolian coal in the province itself
grew by a more modest but still substantial 14 percent annually from 2005-2009, led by the power
sector, which accounted for nearly 60 percent of consumption (Table 13, Figure 21). The development
of mine mouth power plants probably increased this growth rate somewhat through 2011. A variety of
coal chemical plants built by the various mines may also have contributed to the increase. The
contribution of industry is somewhat more modest than in many other more developed provinces.
The overall percentage of in-province consumption of Inner Mongolian coal still dropped from
approximately 54 percent in 2005 to 35 percent or less in 2012. Even with continued expansion of mine
mouth generating capacity, provincial demand by itself will not be sufficient to sustain the explosive
expansion of 2005-2012. The emphasis in the Inner Mongolian Coal sector, therefore, will likely be
consolidation and improved resource management as much or more as growth for its own sake.
Power and Heating
¦ Coking
Industry
¦ Losses in Washing
Other
FIGURE 21: STRUCTURE OF COAL DEMAND IN INNER MONGOLIA, 2012
Source: CESY(2013)
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4. Electricity Market
4.1 National Electricity Market
4.1.1 Growth In Demand
China's electricity consumption grew at a robust average rate of 9.7 percent from 2007-2012 (Table 14).
With the exception of 2008-2009, during which the economy slowed down significantly in response to
the world financial crisis and to tighter controls on real estate in China, growth in electricity
consumption surpassed overall economic growth by an average margin of 19 percent.
In an investment-centered economy, industry was the primary driver of electricity, accounting for close
to 73 percent of total consumption (Figure 22). Metals, building materials, and chemicals alone
accounted for 37 percent, with residential with residential and commercial consumption accounting for
only 20 percent.
TABLE 14: CHINA ELECTRICITY GROWTH, 2007 -2012
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Electricity Output (TWh)
Growth
3,281.6
14.5%
3,466.9
5.6%
3,715.7
7.1%
4,206.5
13.2%
4,700.0
11.7%
4,987.5
6.1%
Thermal
Growth
2,122.9
14.9%
2,790.1
2.5%
2,982.8
6.9%
3,330.1
11.7%
3,825.3
14.8%
3,892.8
1.8%
Hydro
Growth
485.3
11.4%
585.2
20.6%
615.6
5.2%
721.0
17.1%
694.0
-3.9%
872.1
25.7%
Nuclear
Growth
62.1
13.3%
68.4
10.1%
70.1
2.5%
73.9
5.3%
86.4
16.9%
97.9
13.1%
Electricity Capacity (GW)
Growth
713
14.4%
804
12.7%
874
8.7%
962
10.1%
1,050
9.1%
NA
Source: CESY (2008, 2010, 2013), p. 75, p. 129; NBSC (2008); NBSC (2007.1), Table 5, NBSC (2008.1), Table 5; NEA
2012; CEPY (2007, p. 625); NBSC (2012)
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Electric Power,
Gas and Water
Production and
Transport,
Storage and
Post 2%
Mining and
Quarrying 5%
FIGURE 22: ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, 2012
Source: CESY (2013) p.86
Changes in the pattern of growth during the Twelfth Five-year Plan period (2011-2015) will bring about
changes in the rate of growth of electricity consumption, and in the relationship between economic
growth and electricity consumption.
Starting from the second quarter of 2012, economic growth slowed down significantly in response to the
recession in major export markets and government clampdown on an overheated property sector that
caused the slowdown of 2008-2009. As growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dipped to a reported
7.6 percent level in second quarter 2012, many observers understated the severity of the slowdown.
Growth in electricity output dropped to an average 1.6 percent level from March-July (NBSC, 2012.2).
The slowdown was partially cyclical in nature, but it was not clear in mid-2012 how hard the landing
would be, or how much time would be required for a rebound to occur. The prospects for growth in the
major developed country export markets remained uncertain, and the Chinese government appeared
reluctant to loosen real estate controls too quickly or to undertake a major infrastructure stimulus
program similar to the one of 2008-2011 for fear of continuing to inflate an asset bubble.
Observers inside and outside China agreed that even after the worst of the cyclical downturn had
passed, the events of 2012 likely heralded longer-term structural change that would gradually shift the
balance of the economy away from investment and towards consumption. The World Bank projected
approximately 8.5 percent economic growth, and the Twelfth Five-year Plan projected 7.5 percent
through 2015 (Xinhuanet, 2011; World Bank, 2012).
Given the lack of precedent, it is difficult to project how rapidly electric power consumption would
increase under conditions of sustained, balanced 7.5-8.5 percent economic growth. The experience of
2008-2009 and mid-2012, during which economic growth dropped to the 6.1-7.6 percent range and
electricity consumption increased at only half the rate of the economy as a whole, may not be a useful
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guide, given the possibility that the official statistics may have overstated economic growth and the
suddenness of the contraction.
As of mid-2012, the government had not released a Twelfth Five-year Plan for the electricity industry.
The closest to an official projection came from the "Electricity Industry Rolling Report for the Twelfth
Five-year Plan" issued in March 2012 by the China Electricity Council (before the depth of the 2012
slowdown became clear), which stated that electricity consumption would increase on average by 7.5-
9.5 percent per year from 2011-2015. The mid-point of this range would yield a 1:1 ratio between
economic and electricity growth according to the growth projections of the World Bank in early 2012,
and the lower end would yield a 1:1 ratio between electricity growth and economic growth according to
the growth projections of the Twelfth Five-year Plan (China Electricity Council, 2012).
Growth in electricity consumption by the service sector and by households can be expected to increase
somewhat faster than in the past given accelerating urbanization and higher overall consumption. The
key question facing the electricity sector is how fast industrial demand will increase as overall growth
moderates. A 1:1 ratio in electricity growth relative to economic growth, as compared to the 1.2-1.3:1
ratio in the 2000-2010 period seems a reasonable estimate, but there is considerable potential for
variance in either direction given the number of unknowns.
4.1.2 Status of the Electricity Industry, 2012
4.1.2.1 Generation
As China is a zero importer/exporter of electricity, its growth has come entirely from domestic
generation, with output and generating capacity increasing by average 11.1 and 12.5 percent annually
2005-2011 (Table 15) to 4,700 Terawatt Hours, and 1,060 Gigawatts respectively. Thermal power,
overwhelmingly coal-fired, dominates the generation mix (Table 15):
TABLE 15: POWER OUTPUT AND CAPACITY BY TYPE, 2011
Generating Capacity
Generation
Average Utilization
Gigawatt
% of total
capacity
TWH
% of total
generation
(hours)
Utilization
Factor(%)
Thermal
760
72.4
3,825.3
81.4%
5294
60.4
Coal Fired
710 (est.)
67.6
NA
NA
NA
NA
Gas-Fired
40
3.8
NA
NA
NA
NA
Hydro
230
21.9
694.0
14.8%
3028
34.6
Nuclear
12
1.1
86.4
1.8%
7772
88.7
Wind
47
4.5
73.2
1.6%
1903
21.7
Source: China Electricity Council (2012); NEA (2012)
The majority of coal-fired capacity added since 2005 consists of high-efficiency supercritical units of 600
MW capacity or above. As of 2011, 39 ultra-super-critical units of 1000 MW were in operation (primarily
in coastal provinces), with dozens of others under construction. Thermal units operated in 2011 for an
average of 5294 hours out of 8760 possible, an approximately 60 percent capacity factor (NEA, 2012).
The 26-unit, 22,500 MW Three Gorges megaproject on the Yangtze River in Hubei Province accounted
for a full 10 percent of hydropower capacity. Nuclear capacity consisted of 14 units in four stations, with
over half located in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province across the Hong Kong border in base load operation.
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Over two thirds of the 47,000 MW of wind power installed as of 2012 came online after 2009 in
response to a series of incentives and directives from the central government. These facilities, consisting
primarily of 1000 or 2000 KW generating units, are spread across a broad area north of the Great Wall
running from Northeast Inner Mongolia to Xinjiang, with approximately one third located in Inner
Mongolia where the wind regime is most favorable. Massive farms of 10,000 MW capacity are under
development in several locations. Capacity utilization factor, however, is low even by the standards for
wind power plants, due to a combination of failure to extend transmission infrastructure as quickly as
plants have been built, and the complexity of dispatching wind power plants in the winter, when coal-
fired cogeneration stations must be run at close to full load in order to provide power to urban
buildings.
4.1.2.2 Organizational and Geographical Overview of the Power Sector
When ownership of transmission and generation assets was separated in 2002, the government
established five large generation groups of national scope to take over existing plants and build new
ones:
• Guodian (National Electricity) Group
• Huadian (China Electricity) Group
• Datang Group
• Huaneng Group
• China Power Investment (CPI)
Each group operates throughout China, and together they own the vast majority of the large thermal
plants, and a portion of the large hydroplants. The central government ensures that there is a rough
balance among them through its project approval process.
Two specialized hydropower companies, independent of the five groups, operate the country's largest
hydropower plants:
• The Three Gorges Group Company, which controls the Three Gorges project itself as well as a
series of four stations planned or in operation on the Upper Yangtze, has 43,000 MW aggregate
capacity.
• The Ertan Hydropower Company jointly controlled by the China Investment Company and
Sichuan Provincial interests which, in addition to operating the Ertan 3,300 MW station itself, is
responsible for developing a series of plants totaling tens of thousands of megawatts on the
Yalong River and its tributaries in Sichuan.
Nuclear power plant ownership follows a somewhat similar pattern, with two specialized companies
with nuclear technology capabilities holding controlling interest and operational responsibility: China
Guangdong Nuclear Power Company and China National Nuclear Corporation. The five major power
generation companies typically hold minority shares in these plants.
Provincial and sub-provincial government companies such as Chongqing Energy Investment Corporation
own minority shares in most of the plants of the five major groups and the two hydropower companies.
A select number of provincial companies such as Yudean Group (Guangdong) and Anhui Energy
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Company have controlling interests in large base-load power plants located in or dedicated to their
localities. The grid-connected small-scale hydropower and renewables plants are owned by a plethora of
central government, local government, and private interests.
The Shenhua Group, China's largest coal mine operator, was permitted by the central government to
enter the power generation business in the 1990s, and by 2012 had grown its portfolio (including plants
in which it had a minority interest) to almost 43,000 MW of coal-fired and wind power plants. Spurred
by rapidly escalating coal prices from 2008-2011 which created severe financial problems for the five
major generators, the central government began to further promote vertical integration of coal and
power companies. While there were several highly publicized cases of coal companies acquiring power
generation assets, it remained to be seen in 2012 how deeply this trend would take hold.
Finally, a portion of China's generation assets consist of off-grid plants owned by industrial enterprises,
or sub-provincial governments. In some areas such as Chongqing, these plants account for as much as 5-
10 percent of total generation.
4.1.3 Transmission, Distribution, and Geographical Layout of the Power Sector
Transmission and distribution for the public grid is at present a duopoly of two major state-owned
holding companies: (1) State Power Grid Company of China (SGCC), with responsibility for the Northeast
China, North China, Northwest China, and Central China Grid areas; and (2) the China Southern Power
Grid Company (China Southern) responsible for the grids in Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan,
Tibet, and the island province of Hainan. The SGCC operates four transprovincial grid company
subsidiaries corresponding to the regions mentioned above; these companies, together with China
Southern operate trans-provincial transmission lines (Table 16).
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TABLE 16: OVERVIEW OF REGIONAL GRIDS, 2011
Provinces Covered
Total Power
Consumption
(GWH)
Total Power
Generation
(GWH)
STATE POWER GRID CORPORATION
North China Power Grid
Corporation1
Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi,
Shandong, Western Inner Mongolia
1132.4
1108.6
Northeast China Power
Grid Company2
Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang,
Northeast Inner Mongolia
361.2
366.4
East China Power Grid
Company3
Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui,
Fujian
1147.1
1098.6
Central China Power
Grid Company4
Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi,
Sichuan, Chongqing
867.3
898.6
Northwest China Power
Grid Company5
Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai,
Xinjiang
400.4
462.0
CHINA SOUTHERN
POWER GRID
CORPORATION6
Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou,
Yunnan, Hainan, Tibet
784.6
787.2
1: Inner Mongolia and Shanxi are major power surplus provinces, the others are deficit provinces
2. Liaoning is a major power deficit province, the others are surplus provinces
3. Anhui is a significant power surplus province; Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang are deficit provinces
4. Hubei and Sichuan are power surplus provinces, the others are deficit provinces
5. All provinces except Qinghai are power surplus provinces, largest surplus is from Shaanxi
6. Guangdong is significant power deficit province, Guizhou and Yunnan significant surplus provinces
Source: State Electricity Regulatory Commission (2012)
Subsidiaries of the regional grid companies operate provincial grid companies responsible for in-
province transmission and local distribution. In certain cases such as Hebei Province, which is split into
one grid covering the northern part of the province together with Beijing and Tianjin and a separate
Southern Hebei grid, the reporting units to the transprovincial grid companies are sub-provincial
companies.
With one exception, the provincial grid companies are wholly owned by the regional grid companies
under SGCC and China Southern, without provincial government participation. Only the Western Inner
Mongolia Grid Company reports to the provincial government.
All grid connected power plants sign power purchase and dispatch agreements with one of the grid
companies. Dispatch is a complicated process involving both the provincial and the regional grid
companies, with the former mainly responsible for dispatch of in-province power plants, and the latter
responsible for trans-provincial dispatch.
In virtually all provinces of China the majority of the power consumed is generated and dispatched
within the province, out of concern for security of power supply. The major coastal provinces depend on
coal (and, to a much smaller extent, uranium and natural gas) shipped from the interior by rail and
water to fuel the plants.
Environmental and land use concerns, however, are becoming increasingly influential in power plant
siting decisions. In a growing number of cases, therefore, large hydropower and thermal power plants in
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provinces with power surplus are connected directly via dedicated transmission lines to grids in large
load, power deficient provinces, and sell all or most of their power to these provinces under agreements
brokered by the relevant provincial governments and companies, regional grid companies, and the
central government. Examples include a series of major hydropower and coal stations in Guangxi,
Guizhou, and Yunnan Provinces which sell to Guangdong Province, the 4200 MW Inner Mongolia
Tuoketuo plant which sells directly to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei grid, the 2200 MW Yangcheng Plant in
Southeastern Shanxi which sells to Jiangsu, and a series of thermal plants in Anhui Province that sell to
Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu.
Since 2002 the central government has made these projects a cornerstone of one of its key economic
and political priorities: the economic development of poor but resource-rich interior provinces and their
integration with the richer, more populous but resource-poor coastal provinces. The term "West-to-
East" is therefore used to describe these power plants and transmission lines, as well as most of China's
major gas pipelines.
For the most part, the electricity transfers from these projects take place between provinces within a
territory covered by one of the regional grid companies under SGCC, or within China Southern, rather
than between regional grid companies. As can be seen from Table 16 the regional grid companies have
been basically self-sufficient, and electricity exchanges between the regional grids have been minimal.
Already in 2011, the provinces in the East China Grid Company relied on 500 kV dedicated transmission
lines from the Three Gorges Power plant in the Central Grid Company territory and from the above-
mentioned Yangcheng plant in North China grid territory for about four percent of its needs. The North
China Grid relied on dedicated 500 kV transmission lines from specific plants in Shaanxi and Ningxia
(Northwest grid territory) for about 2-3 percent of its needs.
As of 2012, the SGCC also had completed three experimental ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission lines
capable of transmitting over 5000 MW of power connecting regional grids:
• A 1000 kV UHV alternating current (UHVAC) line Southeast Shanxi-Jingmen, Hubei;
• A +/-800 kV ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) line Xiangjiaba Hydropower Plant,
Sichuan-Shanghai; and
• A +/- 800 kV UHVDC line from Jinping hydropower station, Sichuan -Jiangsu (JDRC, 2012; China
Energy Net, 2011; TD World, 2012).
The SGCC's ambition to undertake construction of an extensive UHV network by 2010-2015 is a major
subject of discussion and debate in electricity industry planning.
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4.2 Electricity Macro Plans
4.2.1 Generation Mix
The China Electricity Council's (CEC) Rolling Projections for the Twelfth Five-year Plan from 2011-2015
projected an average 7.5-9.5 percent annual consumption (and therefore generation) growth over the
course of the plan. Based to a significant extent on ongoing construction and planning for specific
projects, the Council foresees an average 8.6 percent per year increase in generating capacity to 1,463
Gigawatts, broken down roughly as follows in Table 17.
TABLE 17: ELECTRICITY GENERATION CAPACITY INCREASE, 2011-2015
2011 Capacity (GW)
2015 Capacity (GW)
Coal
710
928
Natural Gas
40
50
Hydropower
230
301
Pumped Storage
13
41
Nuclear
11.9
43
Wind
47
100
Solar
NA
5
Other (biomass, etc.)
NA
5
Total
1,060
1,463
Source: China Electricity Council (2012); NEA (2012.2)
According to these projections, installed coal-fired generating capacity will increase at an average
annual rate of 7 percent from 2011- 2015, somewhat slower than in earlier years. All indications are that
since 2009-2010, construction applications for new large coal-fired power plants have been subjected to
more careful scrutiny by the central government, particularly in the big coastal provinces. The number
of units approved for construction is often lower than the number applied for, and the approvals are
contingent in many cases upon the retirement of older, smaller scale, less efficient generating facilities.
Power plants in the coal-rich North and Northwest (including Xinjiang in the far northwest) appear likely
to account for significantly larger percentage of new capacity than in previous years.
The National Energy Administration's (NEA's) Twelfth Five-year Plan for Renewable Energy puts forth
somewhat more conservative targets for hydropower capacity increase compared to the Electricity
Council's rolling plan: 260,000 MW of conventional hydropower instead of 301,000 by 2015, and 30,000
MW of pumped storage hydropower instead of 41,000. Given the long lead-times for hydropower plant
construction, almost all of the capacity that will be onstream by 2015 was already under construction by
the time the NEA's plan was issued.
The NEA is clearly committed to increased hydropower construction over the longer term, with its
Twelfth Five-year Plan calling for the scale of hydropower construction to reach 160,000 MW during
2010-2015, and for total installed hydropower capacity to rise to 400,000 MW by the year 2020. The
bulk of capacity will be added in the major rivers in the mountainous parts of West China, including for
the first time Tibet, made possible by technical advances and large investments in transmission facilities.
The CEC's Rolling Plan projects that 24.9 percent of China's power output will come from plants that do
not burn fossil fuels, up about five percent compared to 2010-2011. As hydropower plant capacity is
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targeted to rise at approximately the same rate as coal 2010-2015, coal fired electricity will actually lose
its market share primarily to nuclear power and wind power under this scenario.
The plan's nuclear capacity projection of 41,000 MW in 2015 implies that nuclear capacity will increase
by approximately 31,000 MW 2011-2015 (Table 17). This ambitious target is achievable if the projected
construction schedules for the 11 coastal plants launched prior to 2010 do not slip. If overall electricity
production grows at about 7.5 percent overall, and nuclear power continues to be base loaded at
approximately 7700 hours per year (close to 50 percent higher capacity factor than coal and about 250
percent higher than hydropower), nuclear power could account for as much five to six percent of total
generation by 2015-2016, even though it will account for only about 2.8 percent of generating capacity.
In early 2011 prior to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the then-Director of the NEA predicted
that nuclear power generation capacity could rise to 86,000 MW by 2020. In the wake of the incident,
however, the Chinese government issued a moratorium on approval of new nuclear construction
projects pending a comprehensive safety survey of projects already in operation or under construction
and implementation of mitigation plans for all problems identified by the survey. As of third quarter
2012, the survey had been completed and mitigation plans drafted, but the moratorium had not yet
been lifted.
The difficulties of installing additional coal-fired capacity in coastal areas, pressure to reduce carbon
emissions, as well as a strong nuclear industry lobby suggest that a nuclear program of significant scale
will resume in China. Industry insiders were reported to believe in mid-2012 that nuclear capacity in
2012 would be in the 60,000-70,000 MW range, rather than the 86,000 MW predicted before the
Fukushima nuclear disaster (Beijing News, 2012).
The government intends to sustain the drive to rapidly develop non-hydropower renewable electricity
sources. The 2010 Renewable Energy Law gives the government the authority to require the grid
companies to purchase a fixed percentage of their wholesale electricity from renewable resources.
Media reports in 2012 indicated that deliberations to fix the first targets under this legislation were in an
advanced stage.
According to the Twelfth Five-year Plan for Renewable Energy released by the NEA, approximately two
thirds of the 53,000 MW of new wind power capacity is targeted to come from large concentrated
complexes of 2,000-5,000 MW scattered across sparsely populated areas with good wind conditions
north of the Great Wall ranging from Northeast Inner Mongolia and neighboring areas of the three
Manchurian Provinces, through Hebei, Western Inner Mongolia, and Gansu to Xinjiang. The
Administration hopes that an additional 10,500 MW (including initial offshore demonstration
complexes) can be constructed along the Shandong and Jiangsu Provincial coast, closer to major load
centers (NEA, 2012.2). The plan stresses the importance of developing less concentrated, more
distributed wind resources in central and southern inland areas, including small farms near substations
of less than 110 kV capacity for use in local areas.
The fulfillment of this goal will depend on the willingness of the grid companies, which have made
substantial progress towards absorbing power from the major wind farms, to comply with stated central
policy and law. This means accepting the burden of dispatching small plants with varying output even as
the power system as a whole becomes increasingly dependent on large base-loaded coal and nuclear
units, as well as large hydropower plants. The progress in this transformation has major implications for
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most CMM generating facilities, whose highly distributed nature and fluctuating output closely mirrors
the conditions of wind and solar complexes.
Plans for grid-connected solar power plant construction are split roughly in half between relatively large
concentrated complexes in the far west and northwest and more scattered, distributed stations in
economic development zones such as industrial parks, who would produce mainly for their own use, but
would be permitted to sell excess to the grid. The latter category also includes some construction on
islands or in other remote areas which the public grid cannot reach. The enforcement of grid off-take
requirements and the development of a more distributed power-friendly culture within the grid
companies will be essential to the full success of the plan.
Government and industry projections for renewable power utilization rates remain modest. The various
plans assume continued wind power plant annual operation of 1900 hours, equivalent to an
approximately 22 percent capacity factor. Overall, the percentage of power generated from non-
hydropower renewable energy will likely be in the vicinity of four percent of the total by 2015, even as
the renewable percentage of installed capacity rises to as much as 10 percent.
4.2.2 Grid Integration
The SGCC has drafted ambitious plans to deepen the integration of the public grids under its jurisdiction
(Northeast China, North China, Northwest China, East China and Central China) in order to optimize
dispatch, remove bottlenecks, and facilitate the development of rich coal, hydropower, and wind energy
resources in remote western areas. The cornerstone of the plan it submitted to the NDRC in 2012 is the
immediate construction of three major UHV AC and three UHV DC transmission lines running from Inner
Mongolia to the south and from Sichuan and Xinjiang to the east which would create conditions for the
amalgamation of the North, East, and Central grids into one operating unit (China Stock Net, 2012).
The plans to amalgamate have generated controversy within the electricity industry regarding the
vulnerability of such a large area to shut down in the event of an accident in one location, and the
overconcentration of authority and power within the SGCC. Questions have also been raised about the
costs, benefits, and risks of the UHV technology, for which there are few reference projects other than
the experimental projects put into commission by the SGCC itself in the 2010-2012 period. After
experimenting with UHV, a number of nations including Japan and Italy have decided it is not
economically feasible as existing UHV transmission lines are operating at lower voltage because of lack
of demand (New Century Magazine, 2011).
As of mid-2012, it appeared that the NDRC would permit certain UHV lines to move forward, but would
not approve the plan as a whole in the short-term. Due to particular concerns within the industry
regarding the stability of AC UHV lines, observers predicted that the DC lines would proceed at a faster
pace.
Three lines were permitted to start construction in the first half of 2012:
• A 1000 kV AC line linking the coal generation plants in the Huainan area of Anhui Province to
major load centers in Shanghai and Zhejiang.
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• A 2200 km, +/- 800 kV DC line linking the coal and wind-rich Hami area of Xinjiang to Zhengzhou,
Henan Province, with the capacity to transmit the equivalent of 8000 MW of power due online
in 2014.
• A 1670 km, +/- 800 kV DC linking the 12,600 Xiluodu hydropower station in Sichuan to Zhejiang,
anticipated to transmit an average of 4500 MW. (SGCC, 2012; SGCC, 2012.1; Rednet, 2012).
4.2.3 Electricity Price
Through the NDRC, the Chinese central government tightly controls most electricity wholesale prices
and all wholesale, transmission and retail sales prices under a "cost plus profit" approach with a target
rate of return of about eight to 10 percent. Balancing the interests of generators and distributors with
those of the various categories of end-users in an environment of acute sensitivity to macroeconomic
price stability, poses great practical challenges. There is no fixed schedule for tariff adjustments, which
are made on average about once every 18-24 months.
Rapidly escalating coal costs have frequently put pressure on the electricity cost structure, with
generators bearing the brunt of the burden, in the absence of a mechanism to pass the increases onto
to SGCC and China Southern, and to these grid companies' end-users. In a number of years, including
2011, generators have claimed losses due to coal pricing issues.
Reforms to the pricing system, including competition among generators and separation of thermal
tariffs into capacity and dispatch components, differential peak and off-peak pricing, among others,
have been discussed or attempted on an experimental basis in isolated locations. But as of 2012, none
had been adopted on a comprehensive basis.
4.2.3.1 Wholesale Prices-
Thermal
Wholesale coal-fired power prices charged to the grid companies are fixed by the NDRC on a province-
by-province basis based on prevailing coal costs, regardless of the size and efficiency of the plants (Table
18). Given the prevalence of coal-fired power, these prices are often used as a benchmark for the
electricity industry as a whole.
The national average in third quarter 2012 was somewhat over 0.4 CNY per kWh; prices are less
expensive in the large coal-producing provinces than in the coastal provinces, but the differential has
narrowed since 2008 as local coal prices in the coal producing provinces have raised substantially. The
published prices include a 0.015-0.02 CNY per kWh charge to recover costs related to flue gas
desulfurization, which is mandatory for most coal generating stations, as well as 17 percent value added
tax (VAT).
The prices for gas-fired combined cycle power plants are set in many localities by the local government
price bureaus rather than directly by the NDRC, thus there is somewhat more variability in structure. In
Shanghai, for example, a tiered capacity and generation charge system has been implemented. The
average price is around 0.55 CNY per kWh, as much as 20-40 percent higher than coal-fired prices. Only
in Guangdong Province, which fixed imported LNG prices in 2002, were LNG-fired combined cycle power
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plants competitive with coal-fired plants in 2012; they were substantially higher, however, than prices
for thermal and hydropower shipped from Guizhou and Yunnan.
TABLE 18: WHOLESALE POWER TARIFFS FOR THERMAL POWER PLANTS IN CHINA, SEPTEMBER 2012
Coal-Fired, including
Natural Gas-Fired
Region
Province
flue gas desulfurization:
CNY/kWh
Combined Cycle:
CNY/kWh
North China
Beijing
0.400
0.573
Tianjin
0.412
NA
Hebei North
0.424
NA
Hebei South
0.430
Shanxi
0.374
NA
Shandong
0.445
NA
Inner Mongolia Self-Use
0.311
NA
To Beijing grid
0.373-0.375
East China
0.71 (up to 2500 hours)
Shanghai
0.477
0.3665 (increment
above 2500 hours)
Jiangsu
0.455
0.581
Zheijiang
0.482
NA
Anhui
0.446
NA
Fujian
0.445
NA
Central China
Hubei
0.478
NA
Hunan
0.501
NA
Jiangxi
0.485
NA
Henan
0.419
0.554
Sichuan
0.449
NA
Chongqing
0.444
NA
South China
Guangdong
0.521
0.533
Guangxi
0.477
NA
Yunnan
0.353
NA
Guizhou internal use
0.373
NA
Guizhou To Guangdong
0.383
Hainan
0.490
0.395
Source: NDRC (2011.6), (2011.8), (2011.9), (2011.10); Shanghai Price Bureau (2012); Suzhou Municipal Price Bureau (2012);
Xinhuanet (2011.1)
Hydropower
Wholesale prices for electricity generated by large hydropower plants and some small hydropower
plants are fixed by the NDRC on a plant-by-plant basis, with the remainder fixed by the local government
price bureaus. These prices vary substantially according to location, hydrological conditions, and the era
of construction (Table 19 below). As these plants are not affected by rising fuel prices, adjustments and
changes are both less frequent and of substantially smaller magnitude.
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The prices for large hydropower plants built prior to 1995 on the Yellow River in the north and
northwest and on the Yangtze, Pearl, and Mekong tributaries in central and western China, tend to fall
in the 0.15-0.25 CNY per kWh range, approximately 33-55 percent of that for coal-fired power. Plants of
more recent vintage on the western rivers (with the exception of the Mekong, which remain close to
earlier levels) are allowed for the most part to charge in the 0.30-0.40 CNY per kWh range, about 67-90
percent of the level for coal.
The wholesale prices charged to the coastal provinces for recently constructed hydropower stations on
distant western rivers include substantial premiums to cover costs of transmission line construction. The
transmission component for the prices paid by Shanghai and Guangdong for power from the Three
Gorges station, for example is approximately 0.11 per kWh, equivalent to 25 percent of the total price.
TABLE 19: WHOLESALE TARIFFS FOR SELECTED HYDROPOWER STATIONS IN CHINA, SEPTEMBER 2012
Station
River
Tariff (CNY per kWh)
Date of completion
Danjiangkou, Hubei
Province
Han River, Yangtze
Tributary
0.195
1970s
Lubuge, Yunnan Province
Huangni River, Pearl
River Tributary
0.166
1980s
Sanmenxia, Henan
Province
Yellow River
0.242
1950s
Longyangxia, Qinghai
Province
Yellow River
0.145
1980s
Ertan, Sichuan Province
Yalong River, Yangtze
Tributary
0.275
1990s
Three Gorges, Hubei
Provinces
Yangtze River
Local: 0.3127
Shanghai: 0.3824
Guangdong: 0.4109
2005-2012
Longtan, Guangxi
Province
Hongshui River, Pearl
River Tributary
Local: 0.295
Guangdong: 0.395
2010
Chongqing Hydropower
plants larger than 50
MW
Yangtze River
Tributaries
0.32-0.33
Various
Goupitan, Guizhou
Province
Wu River, Yangtze River
Tributary
0.297
2005-2010
Source: NDRC 2006.2, 2008.1.a, 2008.2, 2008.4, 2008.5, 2009.3, 2009.4
Nuclear
Nuclear power plant wholesale prices are fixed by the NDRC in coordination with the highest levels of
the central government. Tariffs for the three stations onstream in third quarter 2012 (Table 20) range
from about 80 percent of coal-fired prices (Guangdong Ling'ao and Zhejiang Qinshan Phase II) to
equivalency with coal-fired prices (Jiangsu Tianwan).
The gradual localization of nuclear power plant technology has been expected to lower tariffs by as
much as 25 percent. Stricter safety measures in the wake of the Fukushima disaster may upset these
calculations.
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TABLE 20: CHINA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WHOLESALE TARIFFS, SEPTEMBER 2012
Plant
Tariff (CNY/kWh)
In-Province Coal-fired Power
Plant Tariff (CNY/kWh)
Ling'ao, Shenzhen, Guangdong
Province
0.432 (up to 80% capacity factor)
Negotiated with provincial grid
(above 80% capacity factor)
0.521
Qinshan Phase II, Zhejiang
Province
0.414
0.482
Qinshan Phase III, Zhejiang
Province
0.471 (to 80% capacity factor)
0.482
Tianwan, Jiangsu Province
0.455
0.455
Source: NDRC (2002); NDRC (2003.1); NDRC (2003.2); China Central Government Website (2007)
Renewable Energy
National energy authorities led by the NDRC and the NEA have striven to strike a balance between
incentivizing the development of renewable energy and controlling renewable energy costs. A favored
cost control tactic has been to offer concessions for large wind farms and solar power generation bases
under competitive bidding procedures, and to use the winning tariff bid as a benchmark for tariffs fixed
for other plants.
Incentives to producers have included reduction of VAT and a legal requirement (not always honored)
for grid companies to accept renewable (non-hydropower) energy from concentrated generation
complexes. To compensate the distribution companies for the higher wholesale costs of renewable
electricity and ensure the fulfillment of the renewable energy purchase mandate, the Renewable Energy
Law (revised 2010) and a series of central government administrative regulations mandate the collection
of a renewable energy surcharge on all electricity sold in China except to agricultural users and to users
in Tibet (NDRC, 2006.1).
In principle, this surcharge is meant to cover the differential between renewable electricity and coal-
generated power, as well as a portion of investment and maintenance costs for facilities to connect
renewable generation plants to the grid that cannot be covered in distribution tariffs. To ensure that
distribution companies do not divert the surcharge to other uses, the proceeds are turned over to the
Ministry of Finance, and the grid companies are required to apply with supporting documentation to the
Ministry and to the NEA for disbursement of the funds (MOF, 2012).
After an adjustment in 2011 (only the second since 2006), this surcharge rose to 0.008 CNY per kWh,
yielding approximately 36.5 billion CNY in 2011 to be apportioned among the distribution companies.
More timely adjustments in the amount of the surcharge, and somewhat less cumbersome procedures
for use of proceeds may be necessary for the surcharge to fully eliminate financial counterincentives to
grid company compliance, with the requirement that they purchase all renewable energy that can be
generated at approved wholesale tariffs (MOF, 2011).
Wind
From 2007-2009, wholesale tariffs for wind farms were regulated by the provinces, and those farms
over 50 MW were regulated by the NDRC according to the results of bids for projects offered for
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concession. This led to considerable turbulence, with tariffs ranging from as high as 0.7 CNY per kWh for
certain small projects to as low as 0.48 CNY per kWh for certain concession projects managed by the
NDRC. Some concessionaires walked away from projects because of overly aggressive tariffs, and
numerous developers sized their farms at 49.5 MW to avoid regulation by the NDRC. To rectify this
situation, the NDRC standardized tariffs for future plants on a regional basis according to the local wind
regime in 2009 (Table 21). These tariffs ranged from about 25-50 percent higher than those for coal-
fired power, not including transmission fees from remote areas, which could add an additional 0.1 CNY
per kWh. As of third quarter 2012, when bids for the first offshore wind concessions were being
evaluated, wholesale tariffs for offshore wind-farms remained to be determined.
TABLE 21: CHINA WIND ELECTRICITY WHOLESALE TARIFFS, SEPTEMBER 2012
Wind Regime Category
Wholesale Tariff
CNY/kWh)
Provinces
Category 1
0.51
Western Inner Mongolia
Xinjiang: Urumqi, Shihezi, and Karamai
Municipalities; Yili Kazakh and Changji Hui
Autonomous Prefectures
Category II
0.54
Hebei Province: Zhangjiakou and Chengde
Municipalities
Northeast Inner Mongolia
Gansu Province: Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Jiayuguan
Municipalities
Category III
0.58
Jilin Province: SongCNY and Baicheng Municipalities
Heilongjiang Province: Jixi, Shuangyashan, Qitaihe,
Shuihua, and Yichun Municipalities; Daxinganling
Region
Gansu Province: all areas not listed in Category II
Xinjiang: all areas not listed in Category 1
Ningxia
Category IV
0.61
All other regions
Source: NDRC (2009.2)
Solar
In August 2011, the NDRC fixed wholesale tariffs for solar photovoltaic power sold to the public grid
from new projects at 1.00 CNY per kWh, approximately 120 percent higher than average coal power
tariffs (NDRC, 2011.7).
Biomass
Regulations issued in 2006 called for biomass power plant wholesale tariffs to be fixed at 0.25 CNY per
kWh higher than the then-prevailing tariff for coal-fired power. At the time, this represented about a 65-
75 percent premium; as of 2012, it was closer to a 55-60 percent premium on average (NDRC, 2006.1).
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Final End-user Tariffs
The following general principles characterized retail tariffs fixed by NDRC for electricity sold by large
provincial public grid companies as of third quarter 2012:
• Residential users, which paid tariffs approximately 15 percent higher than local coal-fired
wholesale tariffs, were somewhat subsidized by industrial users, whose tariffs ranged from 30-
50 percent higher than the coal-fired wholesale tariffs.
• The largest industrial users paid significantly less than the smaller ones, but were also subject to
capacity of approximately 40 CNY per MW for their peak load, and approximately 30 CNY per
kilovolt of transformer capacity. As industry accounted for approximately 75 percent of total
national electricity consumption, industrial tariffs carried by far the largest weight in the overall
structure.
• Tariffs for small and medium-sized fertilizer plants were heavily subsidized.
• Tariffs for commercial users (accounting for approximately three percent of national electricity
consumption) were the least favored by a considerable margin, paying in the vicinity of 80-100
percent more than wholesale coal tariffs.
Certain provinces/municipalities such as Shanghai, charge significant premiums for consumption during
sharp peak periods, and increase tariffs as residential users consume larger volumes of electricity. But in
the majority of cases, the tariffs fixed according to the above principles are uniform. Table 22 shows the
retail tariffs in selected provinces by power consumer.
TABLE 22: RETAIL TARIFFS IN SELECTED PROVINCES
(CNY/KWH-NOT INCLUSIVE OF 0.8 CNY PER KWH RENEWABLE ENERGY SURCHARGE)
Jiangsu
Anhui
Chongqing
Guizhou
Coal power
wholesale
0.455
0.446
0.444
0.373
tariff
Residential
tariff
0.518-0.528
0.55-0.57
0.510-0.520
0.446-0.456
Large
industrial
0.604-0.667
0.605-0.675
0.567-0.672
0.495-0.550
Tariffs
Medium
fertilizer
0.267-0.297
0.426-0.456
0.435-0.38
0.362-0.407
Commercial
and small
0.852-0.882
0.864-0.894
0.793-0.848
0.838-0.953
industry
Agriculture
0.484-0.509
0.526 0.556
0.538-0.568
0.455-0.475
Rural villages
0.357-0.363
0.322-0.352
0.306-0.336
0.315-0.325
Source: NDRC (2011.8), NDRC (2011.9)
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4.2.4 Power from CMM
The combination of increasingly strong mandates from the Chinese government to utilize rather than
waste CMM, with the prospect of significant carbon credit revenue opened up by the implementation of
the CDM under the Kyoto Protocol in 2004, resulted in a wave of CMM power projects sponsored by
coal mines and Western purchasers/brokers of carbon credits. An aggregate 750 MW of CMM power
generation capacity at coal mines around the country came into operation from 2006-2010, including
120 MW at a flagship station in Jincheng, Shanxi Province funded by the Asian Development Bank (NEA,
2011). The great majority of this capacity consisted of 0.5 MW internal combustion engines with
approximately 30 percent thermal efficiency made in China. These burn CMM of 20-40 percent methane
concentration and are installed in highly distributed fashion adjacent to the vacuum pumping stations
which remove the CMM from the various mines.
The various policy pronouncements regarding CMM-generated power have emphasized that given its
distributed nature, the primary consumers should be the mines themselves. But documents such as the
NDRC's "Opinions Regarding Implementation of the Use of CBM/CMM for Power Generation" of 2007
also make clear that, just as with renewable energy, the public grid companies are obligated to facilitate
the interconnection of the CMM power stations to the grid and to purchase any excess power that they
generate. The document stipulates that the grid is obligated to pay an off-take price equivalent to that
paid for biomass power projects, i.e., the coal power off-take prices in effect in 2006 plus a premium of
0.25 CNY per kWh (NDRC, 2007.4).
A substantial amount of anecdotal evidence suggests that the grid companies have fought with the
mining companies over apportionment of interconnection facility investment costs for the often-remote
generating sites, and have restricted dispatch in an unpredictable manner even after agreements have
been reached and the interconnection facilities constructed. In few cases, the grid companies have
offered more than the prevailing off-take tariff for coal-fired power, in part because, unlike power from
renewable energy sources, there is no effective nationwide mechanism for passing the 0.25 CNY per
kWh premium mandated by the NDRC's 2007 "Opinions" through to the final end-users.
The NEA's Twelfth Five-year Plan for Development of CBM/CMM calls for CMM power generation
capacity to quadruple to 2,850 MW between 2010 and 2015, and reiterates that, while the power
should be consumed by the mines themselves when possible, the policies regarding off-take by the grid
should be implemented. Given the limited ability of the mines to absorb all of the power, the fulfillment
of the Twelfth Five-year Plan targets will depend on more rigorous adherence by the grid to the off-take
policies (NEA, 2011).
The evolution of policy in Shanxi, for which coal is the mainstay of the provincial economy,
demonstrates both the potential and the pitfalls of the off-take policies. Between 2006 and 2011, 26
separate CMM power stations with an aggregate capacity of 381 MW reached interconnection and off-
take agreements with the Shanxi Power Grid Company, far more than in any other province. The grid
only paid an off-take price of 0.38 CNY per kWh, approximately the same as that for coal power, in
contravention of the stipulation that CMM power should be purchased at a 0.25 CNY per kWh premium
over 2006 coal power prices.
In January of 2011, after two to three years of negotiations involving the grid company, CMM power
plant owners, and the provincial government, the Shanxi Price Bureau issued a notification that the off-
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take price for all 26 CMM power plants would be increased to 0.509 CNY per kWh, in line with the
requirement for the 0.25 CNY per kWh premium. The grid company is to be compensated for its
increased wholesale power purchase costs through reallocation of the proceeds of a long-standing
0.0088 CNY per kWh surcharge on power sales in Shanxi that had originally been set aside by the central
and provincial governments to fund new power plant construction in the province (Shanxi Price Bureau,
2011).
While the precedent is an encouraging one for the CMM power generators, the length of time required
to reach agreement - in a province where the coal mining industry has more political influence than in
almost any other - underscores the difficulties of fully implementing the policies regarding CMM power
plant off-take, in the absence of dedicated funding to compensate the grid for the extra expense. In
practice, policy solutions may have to originate at the provincial level as in Shanxi, rather than at the
central level. Not all provinces are likely to have a source of revenue for compensation of the grid
company as Shanxi's 0.0088 CNY per kWh surcharge.
4.3 Anhui/East China Grid
4.3.1 Anhui Electricity Supply Demand, Organizational Structure, Dispatch and
Pricing
4.3.1.1 Anhui's Power Industry in a Regional Context
The inland province of Anhui and the Yangtze River Delta coastal provinces of Shanghai, Zhejiang, and
Jiangsu, which adjoin Anhui to the east, comprise the core of the East China Power Grid (ECPG), subject
to the management of the East China Power Grid Company. The Yangtze Delta provinces, which have
spearheaded China's growth since the beginning of the reform, but lack conventional energy resources,
are enormous load centers which have depended for the most part on power plants burning coal
shipped from the north. Anhui, by contrast, has developed more slowly but is well endowed with coal.
It has therefore become government policy to supplement locally generated power with power from
coal-fired plants in Anhui. Three 500 and one 1000 kV AC transmission lines now with aggregate capacity
of about 15,000 MW now connect Anhui to the Delta provinces. By the end of 2015, 12,000 MW of
power generation capacity jointly invested in by government energy companies from the Delta
provinces and Anhui coal interests and financed on favorable terms by state banks will be in operation
under the "Anhui Electricity to the East" program, with output fully dedicated to the Delta provinces.
Since 2009, the Delta provinces have relied on external sources for about 15 percent of their electricity,
with Anhui supplying approximately one third (an amount equal to over 20 percent of Anhui's
generation), and Three Gorges and other western hydropower plants the remainder (Table 23).
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TABLE 23: ELECTRICITY GENERATION AND CONSUMPTION IN THE EAST CHINA POWER GRID, 2009-2013
(BILLION KWH, % INCREASE YEAR ON YEAR)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Anhui
Generation
132.1
12.9%
144.4
9.3%
163.5
13.2%
180.1
10.2%
195.8
8.7%
Consumption
95.2
10.9%
107.8
13.2%
122.1
13.3%
136.1
11.5%
152.8
12.3%
Surplus/Deficit
36.9
36.6
41.4
44.0
43.0
Jian{
ISU
Generation
298.3
4.0%
349.9
14.7%
376.3
12.0%
400.1
6.3%
427.2
6.8%
Consumption
331.4
6.3%
386.4
16.6%
428.2
10.8%
458.1
7.0%
495.7
8.2%
Surplus/Deficit
-33.1
-36.5
-51.9
-58.0
-68.5
Shan)
»hai
Generation
76.7
0.6%
87.6
12.6%
94.9
8.3%
97.4
2.6%
97.2
-0.2%
Consumption
115.3
1.3%
129.6
12.4%
134.0
3.4%
135.3
1.0%
141.1
4.3%
Surplus/Deficit
-27.7
-42.0
-39.1
-37.9
-43.9
Zhejiang
Generation
219.0
17.9%
249.6
14.3%
277.7
8.1%
280.8
1.1%
293.2
4.4%
Consumption
247.1
6.4%
282.1
14.1%
311.7
10.5%
321.1
3.0%
345.3
7.5%
Surplus/Deficit
-28.2
-32.4
-34.0
-40.3
-52.1
Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu aggregate
Generation
594.0
8.3%
687.2
21.1%
748.9
3.9%
778.3
3.9%
817.5
5.0%
Consumption
693.9
5.5%
798.1
15.0%
873.9
9.5%
914.5
4.6%
982.1
7.4%
Surplus/Deficit
-99.9
-111
-125
-136
-164
Sources: Anhui Statistics Bureau 2014; CESY 2012, p. 44, 97; ChinaPower 2014; Jiangsu Statistical Bureau 2014;NDRC
2014.2; Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission 2014; Zhejiang Statistical Bureau 2014
4.3.1.2 Anhui's Future in the East China Region
While growth in electricity consumption in the three Delta provinces has moderated relative to the
double digit rates of the first decade of the 21st century, they have remained strong relative to other rich
areas, particularly in Jiangsu. The largest of the three provinces maintained seven to eight percent
growth rates in both 2012 and 2013. This growth occurred even as the national economy slowed down
with the unwinding of the domestic economic stimulus program and government moves to tighten real
estate credit. After a down year in 2012, Zhejiang's electricity consumption rebounded to the level of
Jiangsu. Both provinces saw double digit growth rates in the residential and service sectors. Only
Shanghai, with a narrower economic base and a more heavily urbanized population, showed signs of
entering into a longer-term growth slump with regard to electricity consumption.
As Table 23 shows, since 2011, growth in power generation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has not kept pace
with the growth rate in consumption. This may be temporarily reversed for a year or two, as Zhejiang
will be bringing almost 7500 MW of base-loaded coal fired capacity online, about 15 percent of which
was already in operation in 2013. Jiangsu will add at least 5200 MW of large unit coal-fired capacity by
the middle of 2015, on top of 5600 MW added in 2013, an amount also equal to about 15 percent of
the previous coal capacity.
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The government-owned companies in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have also made their first major investments
in natural gas combined cycle power plants in almost a decade, with Zhejiang bringing on close to 6000
MW in 2013-2014, and Jiangsu planning a comparable scale investment over a somewhat more
extended period of time. Environmental as much as power supply considerations are driving the
combined cycle plants, many of which are designed to replace coal-fired combined heat and power
(CHP) plants in major cities. Jiangsu and Zhejiang are also moving as aggressively as they can to develop
renewable energy, including offshore wind and photovoltaic plants (Beijixing, 2014).
Ultimately, a combination of environmental and economic considerations make it most unlikely that
electricity supply in the Delta provinces will be able to keep up with a pace of electricity consumption
growth anywhere close to the 2013 level of 7.5 percent. A landmark air quality action plan promulgated
by the Central government's State Council in September 2013 called for coal consumption in the Yangtze
Delta to begin to decline by 2017, and forbids the construction of any new greenfield plants1 other than
CHP plants. Additions to existing coal-fired plants are permitted, but only under conditions where
sufficient capacity (in plants with aggregate capacity of over 300 MW) is shut down to ensure that the
new plants represent no net increase in coal consumption (China State Council, 2013).
With imported LNG gas running as high as four CNY per cubic meter in the Yangtze Delta and new
pipeline gas at 3.32 CNY per cubic meter under the natural gas price reforms of 2013, the cost of gas-
fired power in new combined cycle plants has been estimated at 0.65-0.8 CNY per kWh in Jiangsu and
Zhejiang (China Electricity Council, 2013). Offtake prices for coal power are approximately 0.45 CNY per
kWh (inclusive of surcharges to cover sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate removal) and
electricity end-use tariffs are pegged primarily to coal power. The State Council's Air Quality Action
reiterated, furthermore, that direct burning of natural gas in households and factories remains the
favored use for the fuel, and that base loading natural gas plants should in principle be prohibited.
Outside of the Delta provinces in Beijing, however, coal-fired power plants are being replaced by gas-
fired plants in order to meet air quality targets. The first of four major coal-fired power plants was
closed in July of 2014 with the remaining three to be closed by the end of 2016. Four gas-fired power
plants are being built in order to reach 2016 air pollution reduction targets of cutting 10,000 tonnes of
sulfur dioxide, 19,000 tonnes of nitric oxide, and 3,000 tonnes of dust annually (China Daily, 2014.1).
Under the State Council requirements and gas price environment, the most politically and economically
palatable option for Jiangsu and Zhejiang political leaders to ensure power supply will likely be to import
a greater share of electricity from outside provinces, whether from hydropower plants in the far west, or
coal fired plants in interior provinces such as Anhui which are not covered by the Air Quality Action Plan.
Planning for +/-800 KV HVDC transmission line connecting coal and wind-rich Inner Mongolia to Jiangsu
appeared to be moving towards government approval in 2014, and Zhejiang provincially-owned power
generation companies announced agreements to build a series of new coal-fired power plants in Ningxia
Province in the distant northwest to be shipped to Zhejiang through a similar line. In principle, there
should be a market in the Delta provinces for significantly increased volumes of coal or other power
from nearby Anhui, whose grid is already substantially integrated with those in the Delta provinces
(Caijing Daily, 2013.1; Twenty-First Century Economic Report, 2013).
1 project that lacks any constraints imposed by prior work
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4.3.2 Electricity Supply and Demand In Anhui and Potential for Power Generated
from CMM
4.3.2.1 Demand
Since 2009, Anhui has exemplified the rapidly increasing role of China's interior provinces in the
country's overall economy. Anhui's GDP growth has consistently outpaced the country as a whole by
about three to 4.5 percentage points, remaining in double digits even as the national rate decreased to
7.7 percent in 2012-2013 (Table 24). Manufacturing, utilities and construction, which account for over
50 percent of the provincial economy, have been consistently strong, growing by margins of 16.8-20.7
percent 2009-2011, and by 14.4 and 12.4 percent, respectively, in 2012 and 2013; a sign that industry is
migrating to Anhui from the adjacent coastal regions.
TABLE 24: ANHUI GDP GROWTH AND ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION (PERCENT)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Anhui
• Economic growth
• Electricity consumption
growth
12.9%
10.9%
14.5%
13.2%
13.5
13.3%
12.1
11.5%
10.4%
12.3%
China
• Economic growth
• Electricity consumption
growth
9.2%
7.2%
10.4%
13.2%
9.2%
11.9%
7.7%
5.5%
7.7%
7.5%
Sources: Anhui Statistics Bureau 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014; CESY 2013, p. 87; NBSC 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014; NBSC
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014; NDRC 2014.2; NEA 2014
Not surprisingly, Anhui provincial electricity consumption has likewise continued to grow at double digit
rates. In 2013, manufacturing/mining/construction, services, and residential electricity usage rose by
11.3 percent, 16.5 percent, and 13.8 percent, respectively (Figure 23).
Although it remains to be seen how long the pace of industrial growth can be maintained at the levels of
recent years, there is reason to assume that it will remain above the national average given Anhui's
status as the inland province closest to the Yangtze Delta, the convenience of its communications and
transportation to the delta, its large population (69 million), and its below-average rate of urbanization
(47.9 percent) per capita GDP (27,500 CNY, or about $4500). Electricity consumption increase of nine
to 10 percent per year is a reasonably conservative projection for the medium-term.
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Other
FIGURE 23: ANHUI ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, 2013
Source: NDRC 2014.2
Coal-fired power plants account for over almost 90 percent of the province's 39,000 MW, and for over
95 percent of its generation. New capacity has been added at a steady pace of about 3000 MW per year
since about 2005, but as can be seen in Table 25 both overall generation and coal fired base-loaded
capacity has increased at slower rate than consumption in Anhui in three of the four years 2010-2013,
costing Anhui power providers sales in the Yangtze delta.
Five coal-fired plants with aggregate capacity of almost 8000 MW in units of 660 and 1000 MW are likely
to be onstream in 2014-2016, with output from 4600 MW of this capacity to be dedicated to the delta
and the remainder for the Anhui grid. An additional 6600 MW, most of which would be dispatched by
the Anhui grid were in relatively advanced state of permitting.
TABLE 25: ANHUI POWER BALANCES, 2010-2013
2010
2011
2012
2013
Absolute
Increase
Absolute
Increase
Absolute
Increase
Absolute
Increase
Consumption
(billion kWh)
107.8
13.2%
122.1
13.3%
136.1
11.5%
152.8
12.3%
Generation
(billion kWh)
-Thermal
144.4
142.0
9.3%
NA
163.5
161.0
13.2%
NA
180.1
174.4
10.2%
NA
195.8
NA
8.7%
NA
Generation
Capacity
(MW)
-Thermal
-Wind
29,330
27,630
NA
NA
NA
NA
31,790
29,590
NA
8.4%
NA
NA
35,300
32,200
300
11.0%
NA
NA
39,331
35,967
492
11.4%
11.7%
NA
Sources: Anhui Development and Reform Commission 2013; CEPY pp 630-631; CESY 2013 Tables 3-9, 3-10, 3-11, 4-23;
Securities Times 2014
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Although Anhui is not covered by the same restrictions on construction of new coal fired power plants
as are the Yangtze Delta Provinces, and because of the complex and lengthy nature of the coal-fired
power plant permitting process, the rapid growth of demand, and pressures for cleaner power, the
Anhui grid should begin to consider alternatives to coal.
The Anhui provincial leadership called for wider use of CMM in its energy five-year plan for 2011-2015,
but without specific reference to the power sector. Possibly the growing attention to distributed power
will raise CMM's profile. From a supply and demand perspective, Anhui needs any power that CMM
plants could provide.
4.3.3 Pricing
4.3.3.1 Wholesale
As of the beginning of 2014, wholesale prices paid by the Anhui grid and the East China grid (for the
"Anhui Electricity to the East" plants directly dispatched to the Yangtze Delta provinces) are as follows in
Table 26.
TABLE 26: POWER WHOLESALE PRICES IN ANHUI (CNY PER KWH)
Coal-fired power plants2
0.4211
Small hydropower
0.338
Wind
0.61
Biomass
0.75
Source: Anhui Development and Reform Commission 2013
National regulations published in 2007 call for CMM power to be purchased by the grid at the same level
as biomass.
4.3.3.2 End-user Tariffs
As of the beginning of 2014, the standard retail tariff schedule in Anhui is as follows in Table 27. It can
be seen that residential customers are subsidized by industrial and commercial customers to a
significant extent, that power to large industrial customers is significantly discounted relative to smaller
ones, that the most electricity intensive industries are given a slight discount relative to other large
industrial customers, and that medium and small fertilizer plants are sold power at close to wholesale
costs.
¦y
Coal-fired power plant prices are inclusive of a 0.015 CNY per kWh surcharge for flue gas desulfurization, which is nearly
universal in Anhui, but not of 0.008 CNY per kWh surcharge for SCR or SNCR nitrogen oxide mitigation facilities which are
gradually being introduced.
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TABLE 27: STANDARD END-USER ELECTRICITY TARIFFS IN ANHUI, EARLY 2014
Usage Fees (CNY/WH
Capac
ty Fees
<1KV
1-10 KV
35 KV
110 KV
220 kV
CNY/KW/
Month
CNY/KVA/
Month
Residential
0.5653
0.5503
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Ordinary industry
and commerce
0.8938
0.8788
0.8638
NA
NA
NA
NA
Large industry
NA
0.675
0.66
0.645
0.635
40
30
Electrolytic
aluminum,
synthetic
NA
0.665
0.65
0.635
0.625
40
30
ammonia, caustic,
soda, etc.
Medium-small
fertilizer plants
NA
0.4563
0.4413
0.4263
NA
21
15
Agriculture
0.5558
0.5408
0.5258
NA
NA
NA
NA
Rural villages
0.3516
0.3366
0.3216
NA
NA
NA
NA
Source: Anhui Price Bureau Power Price Sales Table
Like many other provinces, Anhui implements a peak pricing system for most customers, with peak
prices fixed at 50 percent higher than standard prices (60 percent during the summer peak months of
July-September), and off-peak night prices fixed approximately 38 percent lower than standard prices.
For coal mines, which would be classified as "large industry", the prices (CNY/kWh) are summarized in
Table 28.
TABLE 28: ANHUI LARGE INDUSTRIAL END-USER TARIFFS, PEAK AND OFF PEAK (CNY/KWH)
<1KV
1-10 KV
35 KV
110 KV
Summer peak:
8-9 AM,
11AM-6PM
1.0623
1.0376
1.0128
0.9963
Non-summer peak
1.0012
0.978
0.9547
0.9392
Standard: 8-9 AM,
HAM-6:00 PM
0.665
0.65
0.635
0.625
Night off-peak:
11PM-8 AM
0.4144
0.4055
0.3967
0.3908
Source: Anhui Price Bureau Power Price Sales Table
4.4 Chongqing and Hebl/Central China Grid
4.4.1 Central China Electricity Grid
The Central China Electricity Grid under the SGCC controls the provincial grid companies of Henan,
Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Chongqing, and the transfer of electricity between these provinces
(Figure 24). In aggregate, the six provinces accounted for 19.0 and 18.5 percent, respectively, of China's
2011 electricity production and consumption. Henan, with the largest economy of the region, accounted
for approximately 30 percent of both production and consumption in 2011. Regional growth rates for
electricity generation and consumption averaged 15.8 and 26.1 percent, respectively, from 2010-2012.
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Within the region, Hubei has run a large and Sichuan a small power surplus, while the other provinces
within the grid area have consumed more than they produce to varying degrees (Table 29). The Sichuan
and Hubei surpluses have been based on their rich hydropower resources; approximately 55 percent of
Hubei's 2011 electricity generation was hydropower, primarily from the massive Three Gorges complex,
while over two thirds of Sichuan's generation came from hydropower stations, led by the Ertan plant on
the Yalong River. Generation in the other provinces is dominated by coal-fired power, with the 2011
coal-fired power generation percentage ranging from 72 percent in Chongqing to 94 percent in Henan.
TABLE 29: CENTRAL CHINA POWER GRID PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION (GWH)
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Electricity
Production,
Total (GWh)
561,000
650,600
714,969
748,757
842,400
98,800
975,600
Electricity
Consumption,
Total
525,930
603,600
NA
NA
773,200
867,300
975,200
Chongqing
Production
29,130
37,455
45,725
47,432
50,400
58,200
59,800
Chongqing
Consumption
40,500
44,900
48,600
53,200
62,500
71,700
72,300
Hunan
Production
75,490
86,015
92,725
102,795
122,600
134,700
139,800
Hunan
Consumption
91,300
102,000
NA
NA
117,200
154,500
158,200
Henan
Production
160,050
191,826
197,778
205,546
219,200
258,500
264,300
Henan
Consumption
153,400
186,400
209,300
227,500
246,400
282,300
292,600
Jiangxi
Production
43,990
50,201
57,600
53,300
66,400
73,000
72,800
Jiangxi
Consumption
45,300
51,600
54,700
60,900
70,100
83,500
86,800
Hubei
Production
130,667
158,839
182,844
181,806
204,300
208,600
223,800
Hubei
Consumption
89,500
100,900
107,600
118,300
141,800
157,300
164,300
Sichuan
Production
122,658
126,292
138,297
157,878
179,500
198,100
215,100
Sichuan
Consumption
105,900
117,800
121,300
136,200
154,900
196,300
201,000
Generating
Capacity (MW)
129,200
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Source: CESY (2013) p. 44, 97; CESY (2011), p.43, 117; HSB (2011, 2012); NBSC (2007), CEPY (2007), p.625; State Energy
Regulatory Commission 2012
Note: There are discrepancies between sources for Hunan's consumption in 2008-2009.
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Shandong
IHenan]
Jiangsu
Anhui
Shanghai
Hubei
[Sichuan'
Explanation I
Electricity GeneratioTv (GWHV
Chongqing
Zhejiang
Jiangxi
Guizhou
Guangdong
Taiwan
Gansu
Central China Power Grid Supply
Qinghai
Shaanxi
100,000
J UJEs0'000
Electricity Generation Growth
2010 -2012 v
Yunnan
Guangxi
Sources: CESY (2013) p. 44
FIGURE 24: CENTRAL CHINA POWER GRID SUPPLY
Source: CESY 2013 p. 44
The Central China grid as a whole runs a small surplus with the rest of China, consisting primarily of
shipments from Three Gorges to the eastern Yangtze Valley provinces along dedicated 500 kV
transmission lines. The nation's first 1000 kV AC transmission line, completed in 2010, links Southeast
Shanxi Province in the North China power grid to Jingmen, Hubei Province in the Central China grid. This
allows for shipment of as much as 4,000 MW of coal-fired power from Shanxi to Central China in low
water season, and shipment of hydroelectricity from Central China to North China in high water season.
Interconnection and integration with other trans-provincial grids will increase during the Twelfth Five-
year Plan. Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, will be the terminus of a +/-800 kV DC transmission line
originating in Hami, Xinjiang which will serve primarily to transmit electricity from new wind and coal-
fired plants in Xinjiang to the heartland. Power from massive new hydropower plants on the Upper
Yangtze and its tributaries in Sichuan Province due to come onstream during 2011-2015 or soon after,
such as Xiangjiaba (6,400 MW), Jinping Phases I and II (8,400 MW), Xiluodu (12,600 MW), and Guandi
(2400 MW), will be transmitted to the East China region through new high capacity lines. A +/- 800 kV
line from Xiangjiaba to Shanghai has been completed, and +/-S00 kV lines from Xiluodu to Zhejiang and
from Jinping to Jiangsu were under construction in 2012. Shorter distance, lower capacity lines from
neighboring regions to the north where, in contrast to the Central China Grid region, coal resources are
plentiful, will also supply power to areas such as Chongqing by 2015.
The Sichuan hydropower plants represent by far the most significant power generation investments that
will take place in the Central China Grid region itself from 2010-2015. The Hunan and Henan provincial
86
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governments have put forward plans calling for generation capacity to increase at a 7-7.5 percent per
year rate during the period, based primarily on the addition of new coal-fired capacity (Table 30) and
Chongqing government officials hope to double the municipality's capacity. As of third quarter 2012,
however, the NDRC has not approved the construction of new projects at a sufficient pace to ensure
fulfillment of these goals. Of the three provinces, Henan has the best coal resource endowment for
large-scale thermal power expansion. But even Henan will likely depend at least in part on coal from
Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Shaanxi to meet its self-proclaimed targets. Northern coal shipments are
likely to depend on the timely construction of new transport infrastructure such as the proposed rail line
from Ordos in Inner Mongolia through Hubei to Hunan and Jiangxi (see Inner Mongolia coal section).
The provincial governments in all of the central power grid provinces are promoting the development of
local (non-hydropower) renewable energy vigorously. But conditions will likely only allow for small-scale
distributed wind and biomass power plants. In sum, energy imports, whether in the form of fuel, power
transmitted through long-distance lines, or both, will become an increasingly critical feature of
electricity economics in the central grid region.
TABLE 30: POWER GENERATION CAPACITY IN THE CENTRAL CHINA REGION (MW)
2010-2011
Government
projections, 2015
Henan
51,000
72,000
-Thermal
45,000
64,000
-Hydro
6,000
NA
Hunan
28,000 (2010)
41,000
-Thermal
14,000
24,000
-Hydro
14,000
16,000
Chongqing
10,000 (2010)
20,000
-Thermal
6,100 (est)
NA
-Hydro
3,900 (est)
NA
Sichuan
51,000 (2011)
88,000
-Thermal
25,000
33,000
-Hydro
25,000
55,000
Hubei
53,000
NA
-Thermal
19,000
NA
-Hydro
34,000
NA
Source: Henan Provincial Government (2012); Beijixing (2012); Hunan Provincial Government (2012);
Chongqing Fengjie County Government (2011); Hubei Electric Power (2011)
4.4.2 Chongqing Electricity Supply, Demand, Organizational Structure, Dispatch and
Pricing
Power consumption in Chongqing (including both centrally dispatched power from the Chongqing Power
Grid Company and the approximately 10-15 percent coming from several smaller local grids) grew at an
average of 10.8 percent per year rate from 2006-2012 to a level of 72,300 GWh. Industry has been the
primary driver of growth in power use, accounting for 58 percent of the total. But the residential and
commercial sectors account for a somewhat larger share than in the country as a whole, a reflection of
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the contribution of the jump in the urbanization ratio from 45 percent to 55 percent over the period, the
fastest of all of China's centrally controlled administrative units. (Table 31, Figure 25).
Chongqing's economic and electricity consumption growth slowed down sharply in the first half of 2012
due the nationwide slump in real estate and the European recession. After these short term factors have
passed, electricity consumption growth rates are likely to fall from 2006-2012 levels as the national
economy reorients towards consumption. But growth could still average as much as 8-10 percent,
higher than the rest of China, due to the momentum of urbanization.
FIGURE 25: CHONGQING POWER CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, 2012
CESY (2013) p. 263
TABLE 31: CHONGQING POWER SUPPLY AND DEMAND
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Electricity
Consumption
(GWh)
(+Growth)
40,131
(+14.1%)
44,921
(+11.4%)
48,592
(+8.2%)
53,234
(+9.6%)
62,600
(+17.6%)
71,700
(+14.5%)
72,300
(+0.01%)
Electricity
Generation
(GWh)
(+Growth)
28,862
(+13.6%)
37,455
(+30.0%)
45,725
(22.1%)
47,432
(+3.7%)
50,400
(+6.3%)
58,200
(+15.5%)
59,800
(+2.7%)
-Thermal
-Hydro
23,487
5,643
29,069
8,375
28,488
17,161
30,759
16,574
33,376
16,925
39,350
18,427
33,880
24,475
Generating
Capacity
(MW)
7,597
NA
NA
NA
10,000
NA
NA
88
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Centrally
NA
8,000
8,639
NA
NA
NA
NA
dispatched
Source: CESY (2013) p. 45, 46, 97; Chongqing Energy Investment Corporation private communication, CQPC (2008.1,
2008.2), CESY (2008), pp. 43-117; CESY (2010), pp. 44-45, 91; Chongqing News Net (2012)
Despite an aggressive investment program by the Chongqing Municipal government and the five
national generating companies in the 2006-2012 period which nearly doubled generating capacity and
led to 13 percent per year growth in municipal power generation, Chongqing continued to depend on
outside generation sources for 25 percent of its power supply. Two thirds or more of the municipality's
own generation has originated from thermal power plants in most years compared to weather/water
level-dependent hydropower plants, which actually account for 40 percent of generating capacity. By
contrast, the bulk of the electricity sent to Chongqing from neighboring provinces through the Central
China Grid Company is relatively inexpensive hydropower from the mega Three Gorges project, the
Ertan station in Sichuan Provinces, and other sources.
The Chongqing Municipal government has put forward a plan to double generating capacity within the
city to 20,000 MW or more during the Twelfth Five-year Plan period (Chongqing Fengjie County
Government). About 7000 MW of coal-fired power plant capacity have been proposed by the major
power generation companies (including four 1000 MW-sized units), but the central government has
been slow to approve them. Only 1300 MW in two projects were under construction in 2012, and it was
unclear which of the others would ultimately be permitted.
The national government approved the Xiaonanhai 1000 MW hydropower project not far from the city
center as part of the Three Gorges Company's program to regulate the Upper Yangtze River, but this
project will not produce power until 2017-2018. In the meanwhile, government and private investors
have been moving ahead with a series of smaller plants for which central approval is either not required
or is easier to obtain, including:
• A series of hydropower plants (100-600 MW range), wind power and biomass power plants
totaling approximately 1500 MW capacity; and
• A series of combined heat and power plants burning coal from the smaller local mines totaling
about 1000 MW.
The total capacity of all the plants likely to come onstream during the Twelfth Five-year Plan (including
1100 MW of hydropower already commissioned in 2011-2012, and a proposed 700 MW natural gas
project) is only about 5000-6000 MW, which most likely will mean a greater reliance on outside power.
Only 25 percent of this capacity (the two coal-fired plants) can provide base-loaded power.
The slowdown in Chongqing base load power construction reflects larger power sector macroeconomic
issues, in particular limited coal resources in Chongqing. One possible solution is the construction of new
transportation facilities to bring in coal from Shaanxi or other northern provinces by some combination
of rail and ship. The two proposed projects with 1000 MW generating units are designed for northern
coal.
Large scale importation of power, as opposed to or in addition to coal from the north, is another
possibility. The State Power Grid Corporation has aggressively promoted this option as part of its plan to
build a network of 1000 kV UHV transmission lines to link up the North China, East China, and Central
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China regional grids. The central government seemed to be moving in 2012 towards approving at least
part of this program, but was still analyzing its economic and technical viability.
Chongqing is pursuing a more modest regional solution by contracting directly with plants in
neighboring provinces that have richer coal resources and are not part of the Central China grid. In 2012,
construction began on a 1200 MW coal-fired plant in Guizhou Province to the immediate south (China
Southern Grid), whose output will be dedicated in its entirety to Chongqing. Chongqing interests were
also in advanced discussions to invest in and purchase the output of a proposed 2000 MW coal-fired
plant in Ankang, Shaanxi Province to the north (Northwest China grid). These plants, which would
transmit power to Chongqing through 500 kV lines, would go some distance to helping Chongqing meet
its target for increasing its effective capacity by 10,000 MW during the Twelfth Five-year Plan.
A large-scale nuclear project has also been proposed for Chongqing. But the Japan Fukushima
earthquake disaster has clearly given the central authorities pause given Chongqing's proximity to a
tectonically active zone.
For the immediate future, the municipality will continue to rely on the hydropower resources from
neighboring provinces to fill the growing gap between generation and consumption. A combination of
all the options discussed above: hydropower from the major Yangtze River stations, including the
Xiaonanhai station in Chongqing itself; thermal electricity from the north through regional grid
integration; and local thermal generation using a combination of imported and local coal, supplemented
by gas-fired power is the likely outcome for the long term.
The extent of power shortages, and the speed of the recovery from the slowdown in demand in first-half
of 2012 will be a precipitating factor for decisions on longer-term development. The more acute the
shortages, the stronger will be the pressure for increased generation from plants within Chongqing.
4.4.2.1 Chongqing Power Pricing
Chongqing's price incentives to use hydropower relative to thermal power are clear from Table 32.
Natural gas power plants and non-hydropower renewable plants receive the highest prices from the
grid.
TABLE 32: ELECTRICITY WHOLESALE PRICES TO CHONGQING
Three Gorges Hydro:
0.291 CNY per kWh (delivered to Chongqing)
Ertan Hydro:
0.278 CNY per kWh (delivered to Chongqing)
Hydropower generated in Chongqing
0.32-0.33 CNY per kWh
Local Coal-fired (includes flue gas desulfurization)
0.449 CNY per kWh (new plants with flue gas
desulfurization)
Existing plants vary
Natural Gas-fired (Henan Province)
0.5534 CNY per kWh (to grid)
Wind
0.61 CNY per kWh
New Biomass
0.65 CNY per kWh
Source: NDRC (2008.2); NDRC (2008.3); NDRC (2011.3)
Retail electricity prices for 2011 are shown in Table 33.
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TABLE 33: RETAIL ELECTRICITY PRICES, YEAR-END 2011
Residential
0.51-0.52 CNY/kWh
Commercial and small-scale
0.793-0.848 CNY/kWh
industry
Large-scale industry:
0.577-0.627 CNY/kWh plus 40 CNY per kW and 26 CNY per kV per
month
Coal mines
0.589 CNY/kWh
Chemical fertilizer
0.345-0.492 CNY/kWh
Agriculture
0.538- 0.568 CNY/kWh
Source: CDRC (2011)
4.4.3 He nan Province Electricity Market
Henan, located in North-Central China, is one of China's most populous provinces, with 94 million
people counted in the 2010 census. Like most of China's interior provinces, its per capita income
(estimated 13,000 CNY in 2012) and urbanization rate (reported 42 percent in 2012) have lagged behind
the more developed coastal provinces, its GDP and electricity consumption growth rate kept up with the
double digit national average in the first decade of the 21st century. Growth exceeded the national
average in 2010 and 2011 as the focus of growth shifted towards interior provinces and the government
loosened lending for capital projects to stimulate the economy and counteract the impact of the global
economic downturn (Table 34).
In 2012-2013, however, national GDP growth dropped from about 10 percent to 7.7 percent in response
to the winding down of China's post-global downturn stimulus. Under these new circumstances, Henan's
electricity consumption growth rate fell precipitously to 3.3 percent in 2012, and increased only
modestly to 5.5 percent in 2013, a full two percentage points lower than the national average for both
years (Table 34).
TABLE 34: HENAN PROVINCE: GDP AND ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION GROWTH, 2000-2013
2000-2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
China National GDP Growth
10.6%
9.2%
10.4%
9.2%
7.7%
7.7%
China National Electricity Consumption
a. billion kWh
NA
37,032
41,934
46,928
49,591
5,322.3
b. % growth
14.9%
7.2%
13.2%
11.9%
5.5%
7.5%
Henan GDP Growth
NA
10.7%
12.2%
11.6%
10.1%
9.0%
Henan Electricity Consumption
a. billion kWh
NA
208.1
35.4
266.0
274.8
290.0
b. Growth
14.3%
5.6%
13.1%
13.0%
3.3%
5.5%
Sources: CESY 2013, p. 87; HSB 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014; NBSC 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014; NBSC 2010, 2011, 2012,
2013, 2014; NEA 2014
91
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Weak electricity demand in Henan from 2012-2013 resulted directly from the weaknesses of its heavy
industry, and particularly its aluminum sector. Like the rest of China, heavy industry has accounted for
over two thirds of electricity consumed in Henan (Figure 26), however it is the only province where
aluminum been as central a driver of the electricity industry. In 2011, Henan smelters produced 3.9
million tonnes of electrolytic aluminum (22 percent of the national total, more than any other province),
and purchased one out of every five kilowatt hours of electricity sold in the province.
By 2012-2013, the full impact of an investment boom in smelters across China and particularly in
western localities such as Xinjiang became apparent, as capacity ballooned to 32 million tonnes per year,
while demand, even with a growth rate of 9-9.5 percent over the two years, only reached about 22
million tonnes. As utilization capacity nationwide dropped to about 70 percent and prices plummeted,
Henan's smelters proved ill-equipped to compete due in significant measure to the high cost of local
coal-fired electricity, which accounts for over 40 percent of the cost of electrolytic aluminum. Three of
the province's 12 smelters were reported to have shut down and the others operated well below
capacity, as Henan aluminum production dropped by over 5 percent in 2012 and 10 percent in 2013.
Given that 10 million tonnes of additional capacity were reported to be under construction nationally as
of year-end 2013, it was not clear that the outflow was over (Economic View Net, 2013; HSB 2013, 2014;
People's Daily Net, 2013; Yangtze River Nonferrous Net, 2013). A similar situation occurred in the Henan
steel industry, which accounts for about 6 percent of the province's electricity consumption as provincial
production fell 7.5 percent in 2012 under conditions of substantial national overcapacity. Production
decline in the coal industry also negatively impacted electricity consumption starting from 2011 (HSB,
2013).
The Henan Electricity Supervision Office under the NEA projected that demand for electricity in the
province would grow by 6 percent in 2014, only slightly higher than the 5.5 percent level of 2013. Quite
possibly electricity growth rates near 6-7 percent will become the new normal in Henan, assuming that
Light indu
10%
Iron and steel
6%
FIGURE 26: HENAN ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, 2013
Source: Henan Electricity Supervision Office 2013
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national GDP growth remains in the 7-8 percent range projected both by the Chinese government and
outside observers such as the IMF. Under this scenario, service sector and household consumption of
electricity will almost certainly continue to grow at double digit rates, with growth in industrial
consumption lagging behind to an extent depending on whether and to what extent aluminum
production in the province begins to recover (Henan Electricity Supervision Office, 2014).
4.4.3.1 Electricity Supply
After two years during which electricity consumption in Henan exceeded in-province generation by
small but growing margins, consumption and generation moved towards parity in 2013 as generation
rose by 10 percent and consumption stagnated (Table 35). According to the Henan Electricity
Supervision Commission, only in a small number of areas with underdeveloped grids such as Zhoukou in
the southwest part of the province was electricity supply noticeably deficient outside of the winter and
summer peaks.
TABLE 35: HENAN ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR 2011-2013
2011
2012
2013
Total
2,659.20
2,747.75
2,899.18
Industry
2,041.23
2,040.20
2,100.47
-Heavy Industry
NA
1,795.11
1,825.90
* Aluminum
539
501.07
447.61
* Iron and Steel
NA
158.44
157.98
* Cement
NA
70.04
67.24
-Light Industry
NA
245.10
274.57
Residential
314.6
378.1
439.42
Service Sector
201.64
233.82
261.57
Other
NA
95.63
97.72
Sources: CESY 2013, p. 227; Henan Electricity Supervision Office 2013, 2014
The overwhelming majority of the power generated in Henan is consumed in-province as shown in Table
36. Modest amounts of Henan coal-fired power are dispatched through the central China power grid
under the State Power Grid Corporation of China to neighboring central China provinces during low
water season, while Henan has, through 2013, imported the balance of what it does not generate locally
from hydropower plants in other Central China provinces, principally the mega-Three Gorges project in
Hubei Province.
TABLE 36: ELECTRICITY BALANCES IN HENAN
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Consumption (billion
kWh)
NA
208.1
235.4
266.0
274.8
290.0
Growth
NA
5.6%
13.1%
13.0%
3.3%
5.5%
Generation (billion
kWh)
Growth
195.3
NA
206.8
5.9%
228.4
10.4%
259.5
13.6%
259.7
0.1%
281.1
8.2%
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2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
- Hydro (billion kWh)
9.9
9.3
9.2
9.8
12.8
11.5
- Thermal (billion kWh)
175.5
195.3
209.2
241.5
244.9
267.2
- Renewable (billion
kWh)
NA
NA
NA
1.6
1.9
2.4
Generating Capacity,
year-end (MW)
NA
NA
50,600
53,242
57,647
60,518
Growth
NA
NA
NA
5.2%
8.3%
5.0%
Maximum Load (MW)
NA
NA
NA
41,820
44,430
48,010
Source: CESY 2013, Tables 3-9, 3-10, 3-11, 4-23; CEPY 2012 pp. 630-631
Thermal power plants account for approximately 90 percent of Henan's power generation capacity, and
95 percent of actual power generated. Almost all of this thermal power comes from approximately 50
coal-fired plants located at mine mouths and large load centers owned by the five national generation
companies as well as a variety of other local and national investors, including a number of aluminum
companies who generate for their own use. The province's two natural gas combined cycle plants, which
are used primarily for peaking purposes, only accounted for about two percent of provincial capacity
and generation in 2013 (Table 37).
TABLE 37: SELECTED HENAN PROVINCE ELECTRICITY GENERATION PLANTS
Generation Plant
Owner
Fuel
Flood season
capacity (MW)
Dengfeng County
China Resources Group
Coal
1,860
Hebi
Henan Investment Group
Coal
1,800
Kaifeng
China Power Investment Corp
Coal
1,200
Luoyang Mengjin
Shenhua Group
Coal
1,200
Luoyang Shouyangshan
China Datang Group
Coal
1,040
Luoyang Shouyangshan
China Resources Group
Coal
1,200
Minquan County
China Guodian Group
Coal
1,200
Nanyang Yahekou
Henan
Coal
1,900
NanyangTianyi
Henan Investment Group
Coal
1,200
Pingdingshan Luyang
China Power Investment
Corporation
Coal
2,000
Qinbei
China Huaneng Group
Coal
4,400
Sanmenxia
China Datang Group
Coal
1,840
Xinxiang Baoquan
State Grid Corporation of China
Hydro (pumped
storage)
1,200
Xinxiang Baoshan
China Huadian Group
Coal
1,200
Xiaolangdi Hydro
Yellow River Water &
Hydropower Development Co.
Hydro
1,800
Xinyang
China Datong Corporation
Coal
1,250
Xuchang Longgang
China Datang Group
Coal
2,070
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Generation Plant
Owner
Fuel
Flood season
capacity (MW)
Yaomeng
China Power Investment
Corporation
Coal
2,400
Zhengzhou Combined Cycle
Power Plant
China Power Investment
Corporation
Natural gas
780
Zhengzhou Rongyang
China Guodian Group
Coal
1,300
Zhengzhou Xinmi
State Development Investment
Company
Coal
2,600
Zhumadian Zhongdian
Combined Cycle Power
Plant
China Huaneng Group
Natural gas
780
Source: Press reports and company websites
Hydropower plants constitute approximately ten percent of the province's generating capacity, with the
bulk coming from two large plants on the Yellow River and one large pumped storage facility for peak
regulation. Due to irregular flow along the Yellow River, average annual utilization of these plants is only
3000 hours, about 40 percent lower than thermal plants.
The Henan grid will depend on in-province coal-fired plants to meet the bulk of increased demand. A
Twelfth Five-year Plan for electricity development 2011-2015 published by the Provincial government
called for generating capacity to increase at an average rate of 7.6 percent to 72,000 by the end of the
period, with at least 90 percent of the new increment coming from coal-fired power plants. The new
coal capacity will consist primarily of the addition of new 600 or 1000 MW units at existing mine mouth
plants, as well as smaller new combined heat and power plants; at the NDRC's insistence, smaller, less
efficient units are being gradually phased out as new units come on-stream (Henan Energy Development
Plan, 2012).
There appeared at year-end 2013 to be enough coal-fired projects in the government approval and
financing pipeline to achieve the goals of the Twelfth Five-year Plan. The major generation companies
are actively preparing a new series of coal-fired plants for the 2016-2020 period as well, a signal that
neither government policy nor market forces appear likely to change the generation mix in Henan for
the foreseeable future (Table 38).
TABLE 38: NEW COAL-FRED POWER PLANT CONSTRUCTION IN HENAN
Location
Capacity
(MW)
Date
On-
stream
Owner
Comment
Dengfeng
600
(1x600)
2014
China Resources Group
Gongyi County
1200
(2x600)
2016-
2017
China Datang Group
Environmental assessment
in 2013; replacing 650 MW
of small units
Hebi Heqi Power
Plant
1320
(2x660)
2015-
2016
Henan Investment Company
Construction contracts
signed 2013
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Location
Capacity
(MW)
Date
On-
stream
Owner
Comment
Jiaozuo Power
Plant Relocation
1320
(2x660)
2014
China Resources Group
Under construction 2012;
replaces 6 smaller units
Luoyang Wanji
1320
(2x660)
2015
Wanji Aluminum Group
Construction began 2013;
replacing 6 x 135 MW
existing units
Luoyang
Yangguang
Combined Heat
and Power
700
(2x350)
2014
China Huaneng Group
NA
Sanmenxia
Expansion
(Datang Group)
2000
(2x1000)
2015
China Datang Group
NA
Shengchi
Combined Heat
and Power
600
(2x300)
2014
China Huaneng Group
NA
Xinxiang
Xinzhongyi
1200
(2x600)
2014
Henan Investment Company
Construction began 2012.
Replacing 2 x 220 MW
smaller units.
Source: Media reports and company websites
4.4.3.2 Alternatives to Coal
A limited number of gas-fired power plants or CHP plants are to be built in Henan either for peaking or
grid strengthening purposes; two such plants with total capacity of 1150 MW were under construction
in 2014. In addition, the provincial government desires to develop nuclear power in Henan, starting with
a 2000 MW proposed plant in Nanyang. Given that the central government has indicated that it will not
approve construction of any nuclear power plants in inland provinces before 2016, however, nuclear
power will not likely become operational in Henan before the middle of the next decade at the earliest.
While the provincial government and major generating companies are making efforts to develop
distributed renewable energy in Henan, the scale is modest relative to areas with better wind and solar
conditions. In 2013, only one percent of the power generated in the province came from non-
hydropower renewable sources.
Based on reports of ongoing or planned construction in Sanmenxia, Nanyang, Zhumadian, and other
localities, 1000-2000 MW of wind power plants will come on-stream throughout the province during
2010-2015, however, These plants are only projected to operate approximately 2000 hours per year.
After wind, biomass has been Henan's most significant source of renewable energy with 19 plants
burning agricultural waste and 14 urban waste-to-energy plants with aggregate capacity of about 500
MW connected to the grid in early 2014. Pace of expansion is likely to be slow until operating problems
related to raw material supply and pricing are resolved. In view of falling solar photovoltaic panel prices
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and the various incentives put in place by the central government, solar may likely become Henan's
second most important source of non-hydropower renewable energy.
Finally, Henan's access to power from outside the province will increase significantly with the
completion in 2014 of one of the Chinese government's flagship projects to develop natural resources in
the far west for consumption in the heartland: the 2200 km ultra-high voltage (+/-800 KV) direct current
transmission line linking the Hami region of Xinjiang to the Henan provincial capital Zhengzhou. This line
will supply up to 8000 MW from coal and wind power plants that will come onstream gradually over the
2014-2016 period (Guancha Web, 2014).
4.4.3.3 Electricity Supply and Demand: Conclusion
Were electricity consumption in Henan to continue to grow at the rates of 2000-2011, it could be
reasonably projected that power supply would fall short of demand looking forward from 2013. But if
consumption in the metallurgical sector fails to bounce back, and electricity consumption increases at
no more than 6-7 percent per year, the combination of significant expansion in coal-fired generation
and the infusion of power from the Xinjiang transmission line as well as from new hydropower plants to
the south and west may be sufficient to fulfill the province's needs. The success of distributed power
generation, whether from renewable plants or CMM generators, will therefore depend critically on
enforcement of policy mandates for favorable dispatch.
4.4.3.4 Pricing and Distribution
Wholesale Tariffs
Generating plants in Henan are dispatched by and sell their power to the Henan Electricity Company
(HEC), a subsidiary of the Central China Power Grid Company (CPGC), which is in turn one of five trans-
provincial companies subsidiary to the Power Grid Company of China. The HEC owns and operates the
transmission and distribution infrastructure within Henan, while the CPGC operates the interprovincial
transmission lines and coordinates transfers among the CPGC provinces, and from outside the CPGC
region.
The NDRC directly fixes the tariffs paid by the HEC to generation plants, adjusting them on average every
18-24 months (Table 39). After increasing the offtake tariff paid by the grid for coal-fired power in
Henan by 25 percent from 2006-2011 in response to escalating coal prices, the NDRC lowered the tariff
by three percent in September 2013 as coal market prices deflated in response to slower economic
growth. At the same time it increased the price of natural gas-fired power by 10 percent to compensate
power plants for the jump in citygate gas prices mandated earlier in 2013 (NDRC, 2014.1).
TABLE 39: WHOLESALE POWER TARIFFS IN HENAN, 2014
Type of Generator
Tariff (CNY per kWh)1
Coal fired power plants2
0.4262
Natural gas power plants
0.609
Hydropower stations
0.28-0.342
Wind power plants
0.61
Biomass power plants
0.75
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Urban Waste to energy power plants
0.5742-0.65
Source: Henan DRC 2013
1 All tariffs are inclusive of 17 percent VAT. Wind and solar power generators as well plants burning coal tailings,
or CMM receive 50 percent VAT rebates.
2 Coal tariffs are inclusive of 0.015 CNY per kWh surcharge for flue gas desulfurization facilities which have
become standard for coal-fired power plants in Henan. Surcharges of 0.01 CNY per kWh and 0.002 CNY per kWh
are paid to plants which starting from 2010 have installed NOX and advanced (beyond conventional
electrostatic precipitator) fine particulate emission controls facilities, respectively. Tariff for 10 out of the 14
waste to energy plants is 0.586 CNY per kWh.
The wholesale prices paid to coal-fired plants are uniform throughout the province, regardless of plant
age or operating efficiencies; due to sensitivity to electricity price inflation, experiments with a bidding
or auction system for wholesale power sales to the grid have not yet transpired, nor separation of the
wholesale tariff into capacity and generation payment streams. Regulations enacted in 2004 were
meant to allow large power users to negotiate wholesale prices directly with generators, however, to
date only a handful of these types of transactions have been approved by the NDRC.
Encouraged by the drop in coal market prices from 2012-2013, the NDRC entrusted to provincial
governments the rights to permit generator-end-user direct sale agreements. In late 2013, the HEC
authorities recommended a group of three power plants and six large consumer power plants, to begin
such negotiations on a trial basis. Aluminum plants looking for relief from high power costs hoped that
direct purchase could decrease power costs by as much as 0.1 CNY per kWh, or about 15 percent, but it
was not clear as of early 2014 how far the trial had progressed, and in particular, what standards of
payment would be required to the HEC for its transmission services (Caijing Daily, 2013).
In Henan as in other locations in China, distributed generators of renewable energy have
experienced difficulties collecting offtake price increments in excess of the coal wholesale
tariffs from the grid company in a timely fashion. Biomass plants in particular, with their
significant fuel operating costs, have been forced to shut down operations for periods of time
as a result. The grid company's failure to pay above the coal-fired power price has, in turn, been
a direct result of insufficient revenues generated from the renewable energy surcharge to
electricity end-user tariffs, which are in theory meant to fully compensate the grid for the
premium it must pay for renewable energy. The central government's decision in late 2013 to
double the renewable energy surcharge to most electricity end-users will hopefully improve the
situation, and could provide a modest impetus for the growth of renewable generation in
Henan.
End-user Tariffs
As can be seen from Table 39 and Table 40, small industrial and commercial users pay the highest
electricity tariffs in Henan, followed by large industrial users, railroads and residential users. As is the
case throughout China, chemical fertilizer manufacturers and agricultural users are charged highly
favorable or even subsidized prices.
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TABLE 40: ELECTRICITY END-USER TARIFFS IN HENAN, OCTOBER 2013
Category of End-user
Total Electricity
Tariff1 (CNY/kWh)
Capacity Fees
Load
(CNY/MW-
Month)
Transformer
(CNY/KV-
month)
Large Industry
Ammonia/urea fertilizer plants
0.4332-0.4632
21
15
Other fertilizer plants
0.4812-0.5082
21
15
Ionic membrane choralkali
plants
0.5472-0.5852
28
20
Electrolytic aluminum, caustic
soda, and calcium carbide;
electric furnace ferroalloys and
yellow phosphorous plants
0.5712-0.6092
28
20
Railroads
0.6462-0.7392
28
20
All Other
0.5912-0.6292
28
20
Other Industry and Commerce
Blended fertilizer
0.5922-0.6142
28
20
All Other
0.7582-0.8252
28
20
Agriculture
0.4462-0.4482
NA
NA
Residential Users
0-180 kWh per month
0.56
NA
NA
180-260 kWh per month
0.61
NA
NA
Increment in excess of 260 kWh
per month
0.86
NA
NA
Source: Henan DRC 2013
1 Tariffs are inclusive of 17 percent VAT, as well as a series of 5 surcharges collected by the Ministry of Finance and
specially allocated for: (a) key national water conservancy projects; (b) urban infrastructure; (c) renewable energy; (d
and e): resettlement costs for citizens displaced by national and local reservoir construction projects. Collection
efficiency for these fees, which amount to an aggregate 0.045 CNY per kWh for industrial customers, is reportedly
variable.
Tariffs to industrial customers vary with the voltage at which they are interconnected with the grid, with
the highest voltage customers enjoying the lowest prices. Most of the large electricity-intensive
customers are likely to pay prices at the lower ends of the ranges in the table.
In addition to variations according to supply voltage, prices to industrial end-users (except railroads) also
vary according to time of day as shown in Table 41.
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TABLE 41: PEAK ELECTRICITY IN HENAN
"Valley"
12 AM-8 AM
Neither Peak nor
Valley
12 PM-6 PM,
10 PM-12AM
Peak8
AM-12 PM
Ultra-Peak
6 PM-10 PM
0.53 x Rates in Table
40
Rates in Table 40
1.5 x rates in Table
40
1.7 times rates in
Table 40
Source: Henan DRC 2013
The net effect for large users such as aluminum factories that operate close to continuously is reportedly
to raise the average tariff by 0.02-0.03 CNY per kWh.
The NDRC froze prices to Henan residential users from 2008 until 2012 when it introduced a policy of
stepped increases in tariffs for increments consumed in excess of 180 kWh and 260 kWh per month
(Table 40 above). The first 180 kWh per month remain priced at 2008 levels, a reflection of the political
as well as economic sensitivity of electricity prices.
Industrial and commercial customers carried the burden of compensating the grid for increased
wholesale prices driven by the rising price of coal from 2008-2011, as prices to the large users and the
smaller users rose by margins of 19 - 22 percent and 12 - 15 percent, respectively, from 2008-2011. The
NDRC did not, however, pass the decreased cost of coal-fired power through to industrial end-users in
2012-2013, instead taking the opportunity to reapportion 0.0075 CNY of the tariff from the base charge
paid to the grid to the renewable energy surcharge. This 0.015 CNY per kWh surcharge is now the
largest of the five surcharges on power sales which are paid directly to the Ministry of Finance, with the
bulk of the proceeds reallocated to the grid company to cover approved expenses related to the
purchase of renewable energy, including the excess of renewable power over coal power, and the
construction of special transmission facilities to link renewable plants to the grid (NDRC, 2013.1).
As noted previously, the high cost of electricity has become a flash point for Henan's large, ailing
electrolytic aluminum industry. The smelters were pushed in 2012-2013 for the restoration of power
discounts taken away by the NDRC in 2010, as financial losses mounted and capacity shut down in
response to industry-wide overcapacity. Support was won from generators and from the provincial
government for price relief of 0.10 CNY per kWh until aluminum market prices rose above a specified
benchmark, after which it would reimburse the generators in full (CCTV Securities Consulting , 2012).
In December 2013, the NDRC seemed to reverse its announcement that as of January 1, aluminum
smelters with electricity consumption in excess of 13,700 kWh per ton would be charged a 0.02 CNY per
kWh surcharge, rising to 0.08 CNY per kWh if consumption exceeded 13,800 CNY per ton. (NDRC,
2013.2).
At the same time, however, the central government announced that it would encourage smelters to
enter into multi-year negotiated supply agreements with electricity generators of the type described
above. The initial proposed list of Henan enterprises to be permitted to negotiate power purchase
directly with the power plants included only one of the smelting companies (Shenhuo, the largest),
(Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 2013).
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Retail "tariffs" for Captive Power Plants of Industrial Enterprises
As noted above, many large enterprises have established their own power plants in Henan, both in
order to ensure adequate supply and to control costs. In addition to paying the various taxes and fees to
the government, consumers of captive power from plants that choose to interconnect to the public grid
are required to compensate the HEC for interconnection costs, for revenue foregone, and for purchasing
excess power generated. As of early 2014, these fees, which factor into the economics of CMM power
plants considering interconnection to the public grid, amount to approximately 0.10 CNY per kWh of
captive power consumed (Henan Electricity Supervision Office, 2014).
4.4.4 Hebi Area Electricity Market and Pricing
Hebi City, with a population of over 1 million and home to a wide range of industrial and manufacturing
companies, purchased 2.5 billion kWh of electricity in 2008 from the national grid. Hebi also receives
electricity from a 2,200 MW thermal power plant located in the city. Large electricity consumers include
magnesium producers and cement manufacturers, such as the Tongli Cement Company which used 170
million kWh in 2007. The region's extensive dolomite resources have led to Hebi becoming a center of
magnesium production, an electricity intensive industry, along with the associated manufacture of
magnesium by-products.
Hebi City has grown rapidly in the last decade and while year on year growth rates have declined, the
region's extensive mineral resources continue to attract heavy and light industries and the workers
needed to staff them. This in turn drives the expansion of the commercial sector. As such, electricity
demand in the Hebi area is expected to increase in line with national projections, at rates between 5 to
10 percent per year.
Residential customers in Hebi pay between 0.52-0.56 CNY per kWh (7-8 cents/kWh) in the region while
industrial users pay 0.33-0.49 CNY per kWh (5-7 cents/kWh). Hardest hit are commercial customers who
pay 0.73-0.80 CNY per kWh (11-12 cents/kWh). Grid companies buy electricity from power companies at
a cost of approximately 0.3-0.4 CNY per kWh (4-6 cents/kWh).
4.5 Guizhou/South China Grid
4.5.1 Electricity Supply Demand, Organizational Structure, Dispatch and Pricing
The Guizhou power grid is one of five interconnected provincial grids which are controlled by the state-
owned China Southern Power Grid Company (CSPGC). While the Guizhou Power Grid Company (GPGC)
under CSPGC manages the distribution of electricity within the province, the CSPGC controls the
substantial electricity transfers between the provinces. Demand for power from generating plants in
Guizhou should therefore be considered in a regional context.
Coastal Guangdong Province, China's major export hub, has been the largest consumer in the region,
accounting for over 55 percent of electricity consumption among the four mainland provinces of the
China Southern grid (Table 42). Starting from the turn of the 21st century, the central government has
directed massive investments into generating plants and transmission facilities to bring power from the
resource-rich inland provinces of Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi to supplement the coal and nuclear
generating plants in Guangdong, itself under the Western Electricity to the East program. This policy has
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served the dual goals of promoting the development of the less well-developed inland areas, and of
reducing the environmental stresses and costs of power for Guangdong, which must ship coal from
distant North China or from abroad to run its own thermal power plants. In 2009, Guangdong brought
in nearly a quarter of its electricity from outside the province; in 2012 and 2013, the figure was
approximately 20 percent.
For the first 11 years of the new century, Guizhou was the focal point of this effort and provided the
lion's share of the electricity transmitted to Guangdong, based on its favorable endowment with coal
and hydropower resources, as well as its closer proximity to Guangdong in comparison with Yunnan
Province. In addition to the two Tianshengqiao hydropower stations totaling 2520 MW completed in
2000 on the Guizhou-Guangxi Provincial boundary whose output is almost totally dedicated to
Guangdong, state-owned companies built eight hydropower plants and 12 coal-fired plants totaling
approximately 21,000 MW in 2000-2011, with the Guangdong market partly in mind. Guizhou-
Guangdong transmission capacity increased to over 10,000 MW through 10 separate lines over the
period, and Guangdong committed to purchase approximately 40 billion kWh per year from the Guizhou
grid, on top of the 10-15 billion coming from Tianshengqiao. While actual shipments from Guizhou to
Guangdong have fallen slightly short of this target, Guangdong nonetheless consumed close to one third
of all the electricity generated in Guizhou in 2012 and 2013.
A number of considerations suggest, however, that Guangdong will not be nearly as strong a driver of
future growth for the Guizhou electricity industry as it was from 2000-2013. Slower growth in
Guangdong's demand for electricity. When the West-to-East electricity program was conceived and
implemented in Guizhou between 2000-2010, Guangdong's manufacturing economy and its
consumption of electricity was growing at well over 10 percent per year; the pace declined dramatically
to five percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, in 2012 and 2013 as industrial consumption of electricity
dropped under the combined impact of continued stagnation in OECD countries, slower real estate and
fixed asset investment growth in China itself, overcapacity in many heavy industries, and the transfer of
some manufacturing to areas of China with lower labor costs. There were no obvious signs in early 2014
that the macroeconomic fundamentals were changing in a way that would bring industrial electricity
consumption growth back up to earlier levels, as Guangdong, whose overall economic output still
increased by 8.5 percent in 2013, appears to exemplify the type of less energy-intensive growth that
policy-makers desire for the country as a whole. There has been continued investment in generating
facilities within Guangdong itself, including 11,500 MW of nuclear capacity due to come on-stream
sometime between 2014-2018 which will be base-loaded and run almost continuously, as well as
significant new coal capacity. Yunnan Province is increasingly more important as a more distant source
of electricity for Guangdong with the construction of new megahydropower plants and transmission
lines on the Upper Yangtze and on the Lancang (Mekong) River, as well as coal-fired plants.
The provinces to the north and east of Guizhou offer an additional potential external market for Guizhou
electricity as the pace of growth slows in Guangdong. Although the rapidly growing Chongqing
Municipality adjoins a coal-rich part of Guizhou, the Guizhou Power Grid Company has only made small,
ad-hoc sales to Chongqing and Hunan provinces through 2013, and there has been no systematic top-
down program to integrate the network of Guizhou with surrounding provinces, in significant part
because the Chongqing, Hunan, and Sichuan grids are administered by the Central China Power Grid
company under the State Power Grid Company of China (SPGCC), which is organizationally independent
of China Southern. The announcement in 2013 that the NDRC had approved construction of the 1200
Erlang coal-fired power plant in Xishui, Guizhou on the Chongqing border, which will be partly owned by
102
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Chongqing interests and will transmit all its power to Chongqing, suggests that there will be an uptick in
sales from Guizhou to the Central China grid in coming years, though not nearly to the scale of those
from Guizhou to the south (ChinaPower, 2013).
TABLE 42: CHINA SOUTHERN POWER GRID ELECTRICITY BALANCES (BILLION KILOWATT HOURS)
2010
2011
2012
2013
Output
Usage
Output
Usage
Output
Usage
Output
Usage
Guangdong
323.7
406.0
371.3
439.9
376.1
461.9
393.8
483.
Guangxi
103.2
99.3
105.7
111.2
118.4
115.3
126.7
123.5
Guizhou
138.6
83.6
141.6
94.4
162.6
104.6
158.6
112.1
Yunnan
136.5
100.4
155.5
120.4
174.6
131.6
217.0
146.0
Source: CESY 2012 Tables 3-9 and 4-23; China Southern Daily Web 2014; GDSB 2014; Government of China 2014;
GSB 201); YSB 2014, 2014.1
4.5.2 Guizhou Provincial Electric Power Market
As is the case for most inland provinces, Guizhou's economy has continued to grow at double digit rates
throughout the second decade of the 21st century even as national economic growth has moderated
(Table 43). This is a reflection of both government-directed investment in energy and infrastructure in
the province, aimed at reducing the income gap between coastal and inland provinces and the migration
of some manufacturing from the coast towards the interior. In a sharp break with past patterns,
however, electricity consumption growth has trailed economic growth by increasing margins over the
period, falling to 7.2 percent in 2013.
TABLE 43: GUIZHOU: GDP GROWTH AND ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION (PERCENT)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
GUIZHOU
Economic growth
11.2%
12.8%
15%
13.6%
12.5%
Electricity consumption
growth
10.5%
11.5%
12.9%
10.8%
7.2%
CHINA
Economic growth
9.2%
10.4%
9.2%
7.7%
7.7%
Electricity consumption
growth
7.2%
13.2%
11.9%
5.5%
7.5%
Sources: CESY 2013, p. 87; GSB 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014; NBSC 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014; NBSC 2010, 2011, 2012,
2013, 2014; NEA 2014
Manufacturing remains the most important driver for economic growth in
Guizhou, increasing at well over 10 percent per year and accounting for approximately 75 percent of
total electricity consumption in the province (Figure 27). As far as can be determined from published
data, the reasons why growth in electricity consumption lags so significantly behind growth in
manufacturing output value are a gradual diversification of manufacturing beyond electricity-intensive
heavy industrial commodities such as metals, combined with greater energy-efficiency in the electricity-
intensive industries.
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FIGURE 27: GUIZHOU ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, JANUARY-SEPTEMBER 2013
Source: GSB 2013.1
In the first three quarters of 2013, for example, the ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgical sectors, which
have accounted for close to 50 percent of industrial electricity usage in Guizhou, consumed only 4.6 and
3.9 percent more electricity than in the same period of 2012 (Table 44). In the case of steel and
ferroalloys, slowdown in output growth appears to explain nearly all of the slowdown in electricity
consumption growth. But in the case of non-ferrous metals, efficiency factors almost certainly played a
significant role, given that output value grew at double digit rates, and electrolytic aluminum output
increased by 7.6 percent in physical terms compared to the previous year (GSB, 2014).
TABLE 44: GUIZHOU ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, JANUARY-SEPTEMBER, 2013
Total Consumption (billion kWh)
Percentage increase, 2013
compared to 2012
Industry
59.8
8.3%
-Electricity and Heat
12.8
19.9%
-Cement, non-metallic
5.3
17.8%
minerals
-Non-ferrous metals
14.8
4.6%
-Iron and Steel
9.2
3.9%
-Coal and coal washing
3.6
1.7%
-Chemical
6.8
1.0%
Services
6.0
7.4%
Residential
13.2
2.7%
Total
80.5
7.2%
Source: GSB 2013.1
104
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Guizhou's economy will likely continue to grow at a faster rate than the country as a whole for the
medium-term future for the same reasons it has done so between 2009-2013, with the industrial
economy gradually diversifying beyond commodities, but with infrastructure investment and
commodities remaining important drivers for growth within the province. Assuming that China is able to
maintain macroeconomic stability with an overall growth rate order of magnitude 7-8 percent per year,
it is reasonable to project 10-12 percent economic growth in Guizhou, and growth in electricity demand
of about 7-9 percent over a 3-5 year time frame, perhaps falling several percentage points towards the
latter years of the decade. The biggest source of uncertainty is potential volatility in demand for the
basic commodities on which Guizhou's economy remains disproportionately based.
4.5.2.1 Guizhou's Electricity Supply: Present and Future
In continuation of an electric power investment boom initiated at the beginning of the 21st century, in
connection with the program to supply electricity to Guangdong, Guizhou's power generation capacity
increased by about 17,000 megawatts, or 63 percent, to almost 45,000 MW between 2009 and 2013
(Table 45). The expansion included major hydropower plants on the Wujiang River system in the north
of the province (Yangtze River System) and on the Beipanjiang River in the south part of the province
(Pearl/Hongshui River System), as well as a number of large thermal power plants burning Guizhou's
plentiful coal resources. As of early 2014, coal-fired plants accounted for 54 percent of total capacity
and hydropower for 42.6 percent.
TABLE 45: GUIZHOU PROVINCE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Average
Growth,
2009-
2013
Installed Capacity (MW)
- Coal fired
- Hydro
- Wind
27,838
17,307
10,530
0
34,090
17,5301
6,550
0
39,010
20,300
18,660
40
NA
NA
NA
NA
44,760
24,330
19,080
1,350
12.6%
8.9%
16.0%
NA
Peak Load (MW)
NA
NA
11,870
NA
NA
NA
Consumption (billion KWh)
75.0
83.6
94.4
104.6
112.1
10.6%
Output (billion KWh)
138.0
138.6
137.9
161.8
158.6
3.5%
-Hydro Output (TWh)
40.1
41.6
35.5
58.2
43.6
NA
-Thermal Output (TWh)
82.6
81.1
102.4
102.7
115.0
8.6%
Source: CEPY (2012), pp. 630-631CESY (2013), Tables 3-9, 3-10, 3-11, 4-23); NDRC 2014.1
Actual power generation in Guizhou, however, only increased by an annual average of 5.4 percent from
2009-2012, significantly below the rate of increase in generating capacity and, more importantly, of
electricity consumption in the province, leading to lost power export opportunities to Guangdong, and
in some years restrictions on power usage in Guizhou itself. As Table 46 shows, the major issue is
limitation and the variability of generation in the hydropower plants. Even in 2012, a good water year,
average utilization is only about 3100 hours per year, in contrast to coal-fired plants, which run at about
5000 hours per year. In bad years such as 2011 and 2013, the rates were 1900 and 2300 hours,
respectively, meaning that the plants were operating at only one fourth of nominal generating capacity.
105
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By the end of 2014, Guizhou's major rivers will be dammed virtually to their full potential. Future
additions to hydropower capacity will be limited in scale, consisting of a maximum of a few thousand
megawatts of small plants on their upstream tributaries and source waters.
Coal will thus provide the overwhelming majority of new power supply to Guizhou in the medium-term.
Approximately 6200 MW of coal-fired capacity, almost all in the form of 660 MW supercritical
generating mine mouth generating units are due to come onstream in 2014-2015, including the 1320
MW Erlang plant whose output will be dedicated to Chongqing Municipality to the north (Table 46).
Over 1500 MW of smaller, less efficient coal-fired generating units in Guizhou will shut down in
conjunction with the completion of the new plants, which means that the net increase in coal-fired
generating capacity dedicated in whole or part to Guizhou itself will be order of magnitude 3400 MW
through 2015, an annual increase of about 7 percent.
TABLE 46: NEW POWER PLANTS IN GUIZHOU
Location
Capacity (MW)
Owner
Year
Onstream
Under construction
Mamaya Hydro,
Beipanjiang River
558
Guizhou Qianyuan
Energy Company
2014
Panbei Coal Tailings
Plant Unit 2
300
China Investment
Company
2015
Panxian Coal Plant
Unit 2
660 (1x660)
Guizhou-Guangxi
Power Generation
2014
Qianbei Coal Plant
1320 (2x660)
CPI
Generation/Jinyuan
2015
Shatuo Hydro Units 3
and 4, Wujiang River
560 (2 x 280)
Huadian Power
Group
2014
Tongzi Coal Plant Unit
2
600
Huadian
Generation
2014
Xingyi Zhengluwan
Coal
700 (2x350)
Yangguang
Enterprises
2014
Xishui Erlang Coal
Plant
1320 (2x660)
CPI Power et al
2016
Advanced Permitting
Anshun Coal Plant,
Phase III
1320 (2x660)
Guodian Power
Group
NA
Dafang Coal Plant
1320 (2x660)
Huarun Power
Group
NA
Liuzhi Coal Plant
1320 (2x660)
Huarun Power
Group
NA
Feasi
bility Study/Preliminary Permitting
Pannan Coal Plant
Expansion
1320 (2x660)
Guangdong
Yude'an Power
Group
NA
Pu'an Coal Plant
1320 (2x660 )
CPI International
NA
Qingjiang Coal Plant
1320 (2x660)
Guodian Group
NA
106
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Location
Capacity (MW)
Owner
Year
Onstream
Qianxi Coal Plant
Expansion
1320 (2x660)
CPI/Jinyuan
NA
Source: press reports and company websites
An additional 7800 MW of coal-fired capacity at 6 plants are proceeding through the
planning/permitting process as of the beginning of 2014, including one plant that would be dedicated to
Chongqing, and another that would largely supply Guangdong. If these plants are all ultimately built, and
the pace of closure of inefficient capacity is maintained, it is reasonable to assume that a 7-8 percent
rate increase in thermal generating capacity dedicated in whole or part to Guizhou could be maintained
through 2017-2018.
If demand within Guizhou itself, and in Guangdong continues to moderate as projected, this implies that
supply and demand for electricity within Guizhou, as well as within the larger region that Guizhou
supplies could be closer balanced than in the past. There will continue to be considerable yearly
variability due to the unpredictability of water conditions; in bad water years, the Guizhou grid will likely
dispatch every unit that it can, whereas in good water years, it may not fully dispatch the available coal-
fired capacity. Given their lower wholesale prices, the hydropower plants will always enjoy priority for
dispatch. Thus the public grid could potentially require all distributed power producers such as coal
mine methane power plants to produce in some years, but not all. Specifically, this could be the case if
they are unable to meet the cost of coal-fired power to the grid of approximately 0.38-0.39 CNY per
kWh.
4.5.2.2 Pricing and Distribution
The Guizhou wholesale price structure mandated by the NDRC and published by the Guizhou Electricity
Company is shown in Table 47 below. Grid offtake prices for coal-fired power are relatively low
compared to most other provinces in China, a reflection of the use of locally mined coal with moderate
production costs. Once transmission costs are accounted for, however, the cost of Guizhou coal-fired
power in Guangdong is virtually the same as locally generated power in that province. Hydropower
offtake prices are 17-33 percent lower than those for coal-fired power.
Off-take prices to the grid for CMM power should be, in theory, fixed at a 50 percent premium to coal,
or approximate 0.56 CNY per kWh.
TABLE 47: GUIZHOU WHOLESALE POWER PRICES, DECEMBER 2013 (CNY/KWH)
1. Power Plant Offtake Prices
Coal-Fired Plants1
0.3738
Hydropower Plants
- Wujiang River (7 stations)
0.2574-0.297
- Beipanjiang River
0.313-0.326
- Nanpanjiang River Tianshengqiao 1 and II
0.2334-2335
Wind
0.61
Solar
- Central Station
1.0
- Distributed
0.7938
107
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II. Wholesale Prices for Guizhou Power in Guangdong
Wholesale price paid to Guizhou Grid
0.381
Delivered priced paid by Guangdong Grid to China
Southern Grid
0.50
Delivered price paid by Guangdong grid for power
from Tianshengqiao hydro
0.322-0.334
1 Price is includes 0.0216 CNY per kWh surcharge for plants operating flue gas desulfurization system which have
become standard, but does not include 0.008 CNY per kWh surcharge for de NOX facilities which are gradually
being popularized.
Sources: Guizhou Price Bureau 2011; China Southern Grid 2012; NDRC 2013.1
4.5.3 Potential for Power Generated from CMM
Coal mine methane is among the more promising sources of new, lower carbon energy sources in
Guizhou Province. Most of the 138 million tonnes of coal mined in Guizhou during 2009 came from
mines with seams that contain high volumes of methane that pose a considerable safety risk. Under the
relatively conservative assumption that 15 cubic meters of methane were liberated per ton of coal
mined, Guizhou Province emitted approximately 2 billion cubic meters of CMM in 2009 (pure methane),
enough to supply over 1,300 MW of power capacity operating at 6000 hours per year at 40 percent
energy conversion efficiency.
4.6 Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is a significant net supplier of electricity to outside provinces based on its abundant coal
resources, sparse population and modest internal demand, and relative proximity to the Beijing-Tianjin
load center (Table 48). The development of a series of large coal-fired plants, such as the 4200 MW
Datang Tuoketuo facility near the Zhonge'er coal mines (the largest coal-fired power plant in the
country), has sparked a 19 percent per year growth rate 2005-2011. This has made the formerly isolated
frontier province an indispensable supplier to the North China grid area.
Inner Mongolia has the potential to become an even more significant source of power to the rest of
China based not only on its coal resources, but also on the wind power potential created by the Siberian
winds sweeping across its sprawling grasslands and deserts. According to official estimates, it is
technologically feasible to construct 130,000 MW of wind power capacity in Inner Mongolia, a
significant proportion of which can generate at world-class utilization rates (Inner Mongolia Energy
Bureau, 2011; China Electricity Council, 2012).
TABLE 48: CONSUMPTION AND GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER IN INNER MONGOLIA 2005-2011
(BILLION KWH)
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Consumption
88.5
116.0
122.1
128.8
153.7
183.4
201.7
Generation
141.3
193.2
218.4
224.2
248.9
297.3
317.2
-- Thermal
139.6
187.7
207.2
207.3
222.7
263.9
284.5
-- Wind
NA
NA
NA
9.8
19.9
25.9
NA
Source: CESY (2013) p. 44, 46, 97; CESY (2010); Xilinguole Government (2012)
108
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The wind power rush of 2006-2011 resulted in the construction of 15,000 MW of grid-connected wind
power plants mid-2012, 20 percent of the overall provincial electricity capacity and nearly half of the
total, national wind capacity. The provincial Energy Bureau has announced a target of 30,000 MW and
50,000 MW of wind capacity by 2015 and 2020, respectively.
A host of issues such as the failure of longer lead-time grid infrastructure construction to match the pace
of short-turn power plant installation as well as dispatch issues have prevented the Inner Mongolia wind
plants from operating at more than about 2000 hours per year, perhaps two thirds of their potential.
The complex structure of the region's power industry creates particular challenges.
4.6.1 Export of Inner Mongolian Power: Structural Issues
Inner Mongolia is served by two separate power grids: (1) the western and central regional grid
operated by the Inner Mongolia Power Grid Company (IMPGC), and; (2) the considerably smaller
northeastern regional grid operated by the Northeast Inner Mongolia Power Grid Company (NEIMPGC).
The Northeast Inner Mongolia grid is in essence an extension of the northeastern grid covering the three
adjacent Manchurian provinces, and the NEIMPGC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Northeast China
Power Grid Company. Table 49 provides an overview of the Inner Mongolian grid consumption and
generation by grid areas.
TABLE 49: EASTERN AND WESTERN INNER MONGOLIAN GRID OVERVIEW, 2011
Western Grid Areas
Eastern Grid Areas
Consumption (billion kWh)
147
33
Generation (billion kWh)
227
70
-Wind
16
9
Source: Xilinguole League Government (2012)
Despite the significance of western/central Inner Mongolia to Beijing's power supply, the IMPGC is the
only provincial grid company in China owned by the provincial government rather than one of the five
trans-provincial power grid companies. The largest coal-fired power plants, which send the entirety of
their power to the Beijing-Tianjin load center, are dispatched directly by the North China Power Grid
Company. The smaller coal-fired plants and all of the wind plants in the west/center are dispatched by
the IMPGC, which negotiates a daily quota with the North China Grid Company for the supply of
additional power to the Beijing-Tianjin region. This "double dispatch" system for Western Inner
Mongolia wind power plants creates difficulties for the North China regional grid to fully integrate them
into overall dispatch planning.
In view of the fluctuations in wind power plant output due to the weather, the grid companies are
unwilling to depend on wind for more than about one third of power supply at any given time in order
to maintain grid stability. The highest level that has been achieved in Inner Mongolia is about 28
percent, and the average is significantly lower.
Aside from coordination issues between the grid companies, wind plants are limited both in Inner
Mongolia and the North China grid area by the necessity to maintain coal-fired (and in Beijing, gas fired)
CHP plants at close to full load for heating purposes at precisely the winter season when the wind
109
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conditions are at their best for power generation in Inner Mongolia. The difficulties for the grid of
accepting wind power at low load conditions at night are a further limiting factor.
The central government is pushing for the State Power Grid Corporation (the umbrella company that
owns both the North China and Northeast China trans-provincial grids) to exert maximum effort to
accommodate wind power in order to reduce carbon emissions. New transmission facilities constructed
by both the IMGC and the North China Power Grid Company have partially alleviated the severe
problems of connectivity, which reached a head in 2009-2010. The State Power Grid Corporation has
proposed as many as 6 UVH transmission lines to connect Western Inner Mongolian wind and coal
resources to East and Central China (Inner Mongolia Energy Bureau, 2011). Implementation of these
plans will provide a stimulus not only to wind power, but also to Inner Mongolia's coal-fired power
industry, which can provide the flexible back-up to variable wind power generation.
As noted above, the integration of the eastern Mongolian grid with the Northeast China trans-provincial
grid is fuller than in the west. An important issue for both wind and coal fired plants in East Inner
Mongolia is the growth in of demand for power of the Northeast provincial area itself (i.e., the three
Manchurian provinces), which, at about 7 percent 2005-2009, significantly lagged behind the rest of
China (CESY, 2010).
4.6.2 Consumption of Electricity within Inner Mongolia
Demand for power in Inner Mongolia itself increased at an 18 percent rate from 2005-2011,
considerably higher than the national average, as new generation facilities came online and the region's
resource extraction economy accelerated. In addition to coal, Inner Mongolia produces and refines
almost all of China's rare earth metals, and about 10 percent of its electrolytic aluminum.
FIGURE 28: INNER MONGOLIA ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, 2012
Source: CESY (2013) p. 161
110
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Figure 28 shows the extent to which industry dominates electricity consumption in the Inner Mongolia
Region. Industry's share of total consumption in Inner Mongolia has been almost 15 percent higher than
China as a whole, while the share devoted to commercial and residential consumption has been about
nine percentage points lower.
The economic slowdown of the first half of 2012 has had a particularly dramatic impact on demand for
electricity in Inner Mongolia in view of this industry-skewed demand structure. If, as the central
government hopes, resource extraction growth moderates over the medium-term as the structure of
the economy gradually shifts in the direction of consumption, demand for power in Inner Mongolia is
unlikely to grow at rates greatly exceeding the national average. With a population of only 25 million
people (1.8 percent of the national total) and an urbanization ratio that had already reached 57 percent
in 2011, there is a greater limit in Inner Mongolia in the degree to which personal consumption can drive
growth in electricity usage (Inner Mongolia Statistical Bureau, 2012).
4.6.3 Inner Mongolia Electricity Pricing and the Potential for CMM Power
Potential CMM power generators in Inner Mongolia will deal with power grid companies more
experienced than in any other part of China in dealing with variable supply from small power suppliers.
But as a practical matter they will have to compete with the wind power plants for dispatch in a
province that has a much stronger stake in wind power than in CMM. To the extent that they are
dispatched, it can be assumed that the CMM power plants will not be able to sell their output at more
than the 0.51 CNY per kWh mandated for wind (Table 50 and Table 51).
TABLE 50: WHOLESALE PRICES FOR POWER GENERATED IN WESTERN INNER MONGOLIA, MID-2012
Coal-fired power sold to the Inner Mongolia
Power Grid Company
0.3109 CNY/kWh
Coal-fired power dispatched directly to Beijing-
Tianjin-Tangshan grid
0.3731 CNY/kWh
Coal-fired power sold by Inner Mongolia Power
Grid Company to Beijing-Tianjin Grid
0.375 CNY/kWh
Power from wind plants installed after July 2009
0.51 CNY/kWh
Source: NDRC (2011.6); NDRC (2009.3); NDRC (2009.2)
TABLE 51: INNER MONGOLIA ELECTRICITY PRICES TO END-USERS, MID-2012
Residential users
0.42-0.43 CNY/kWh
Commercial and small industrial users
0.571-0.684 CNY/kWh
35 kV Industrial users
0.472 CNY/kWh
Source: NDRC (2011.6)
Large industrial users are also assessed fixed charges of 28 CNY per KW per month and 19 CNY per kV
per month.
Ill
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5. Gas Market
5.1 National Gas Market
From 2006-2012, coal continued to supply 70-71 percent of China's energy needs despite multiple
central government exhortations and projections for its share to decline. Conversely, despite years of
double digit growth in the gas industry, the share for natural gas only increased from 3.0 percent in 2006
to about 5.6 percent in 2012 (CESY, 2013).
The NEA's Draft Twelfth Five-year Natural Gas Development Plan called for the natural gas percentage
to reach about 8 percent by year-end 2015, and it is commonly projected that the percentage will
exceed 10 percent by 2020 (Xinhuanet, 2012).
The central government appears more serious than ever about moderating the rate of growth, lowering
the rate of investment relative to consumption, and reducing local and global environmental
degradation in order to improve the quality of life of the Chinese people. This is embodied in such
targets as seven percent annual GDP growth, reduction of energy consumption and C02 emissions per
unit of GDP by 16 percent, and virtual zero percent growth in coal production.
Outside factors such as the reduction in trade surplus volume, which has financed the investment boom,
reinforce these trends. And notably, at least as of mid-2012, the central government was resisting
pressures for a major investment-driven stimulus program to counteract the economic drop-off
resulting from tightening of real estate lending and global economic slowdown.
All of these trends impact the output growth and energy consumption of commodities such as steel and
cement which depend on coal rather than natural gas. Increased urbanization, cleaner air, and reduced
carbon emissions all correlate positively with natural gas consumption. Finally, the central government
appears to be committing the capital necessary to match increased natural gas supply with rapidly
growing demand.
5.1.1 Recent Trends In China's Natural Gas Market
The natural gas market in China has experienced a surge of historic proportions since the turn of the
century (Table 52 and Figure 29). This has been a result of the government's decision to invest billions in
production facilities, long distance pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals in order
to introduce natural gas into the major eastern and southern coastal population and industrial centers.
Gas consumption has grown at a sustained 17 percent rate since 2000, far in excess of original official
expectations as consumers of all kinds experience the benefits of a clean, convenient fuel.
TABLE 52: CHINA NATURAL GAS MARKET DEVELOPMENT, 1995-2012
Production
(million
cubic
meters)
LNG Imports
Pipeline
Imports
Exports
(million cubic
meters
Consumption
(million
cubic
meters)
(thousand
tonnes)
Million m3
equiv.
1995
17,900
NA
NA
NA
NA
15,253
2000
27,200
NA
NA
NA
3,140
23,531
2001
30,300
NA
NA
NA
3,040
NA
2002
32,700
NA
NA
NA
3,200
27,544
112
-------
2003
35,000
NA
NA
NA
1,873
34,829
2004
41,500
NA
NA
NA
2,440
40,798
2005
49,300
NA
NA
NA
2,970
46,474
2006
58,539
698
1,020
NA
2,900
56,141
2007
69,310
2,931
4,280
NA
2,600
70,520
2008
80,300
3,336
4,870
NA
3,250 (est)
81,290
2009
85,270
5,341
8,080
NA
3,210 (est)
89,520
2010
94,848
9,340
13,670
6,400
2,900 (est)
106,941
2011
102,689
12,200
17,810
13,000
2,900
130,530
2012
107,153
14,676
20,293
21,805
2,890
146,300
Source:CESY (2013) p. 43, 85,105; CESY (2010), p. 119,105, NBSC (2007); China Customs (2009.2); China Energy Bureau January
28, 2011; China Reform Daily (2012); NBSC (2012); Wanlong Securities Net February (2012). (est) indicates estimated.
45,000
40,000
35,000 V
01
¦M
0)
£
30,000 «
.a
3
u
C
25,000 |
£
20,000 o
a.
£
¦o
15,000 g
(A
+->
k.
o
Q.
10,000 £
5,000
0
FIGURE 29: CHINA NATURAL GAS MARKET DEVELOPMENT, 1995-2012
The government now projects that consumption will double to 260 billion cubic meters in 2011-2015,
and to 350 billion cubic meters in 2020 and is making hard commitments to import ever larger quantities
of gas from outside of China to fulfill this goal as China's domestic production fails to keep up with
demand (People's Daily Net, 2012).
160,000
I Consumption
Production Exports Imports
c
o
'¦M
Q.
£
3
C
o
u
3
T3
O
(U
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
140,000
£
£ 120,000
_Q
3
U
C
0
1 100,000
Note: Purple indicates area of overlap
between consumption and production.
1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
113
-------
The natural gas sector has not been totally immune to the downturn in China's economy in 2012. With
new supply from Central Asia entering the market in Guangdong Province, one of the most voracious
new consuming provinces, a glut of natural gas supply was reported for the first time ever as power
plants slowed down (ICIS, 2012). This glut appears to have been mainly a local, short-term phenomenon
reflecting temporary slowdown in electric power production, which accounted for about 80 percent of
the province's gas consumption (ICIS, 2012). Over the longer term, there is still every reason to expect
natural gas demand to continue to grow rapidly as projected.
Natural gas use as a clean, convenient urban household and commercial fuel represents precisely the
kind of consumption and improvement in quality of life that is the centerpiece of the government's
Twelfth Five-year Plan. So does fuel switching from fuel oil, coal gas and coal in the industrial and power
sectors. The potential for growth in these end-uses is nowhere close to exhausted (Section 5.1.1.1).
Given its enormous financial commitment to the development of natural gas supply, furthermore the
central government is likely to take whatever administrative measures are necessary to reinforce these
macroeconomic and environmental drivers for gas demand.
5.1.1.1 Structure of Demand
Table 53 and Figure 30 below show China's natural gas consumption by sector.
TABLE 53: CHINA NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR (MILLION CUBIC METERS)
2009
2010
2011
2012
Volume
%
Volume
%
Volume
%
Volume
%
TOTAL
89,520
100.0%
106,941
100.0%
130,530
100%
146,300
100%
INDUSTRY
57,790
64.6%
68,092
63.7%
83,995
64.3%
94,675
64.7%
Mining
12,293
13.7%
13,414
12.5%
13,193
10.1%
13,950
9.5%
Petroleum
Extraction
11,740
13.1%
12,955
12.1%
12,604
9.7%
12,294
8.4%
Manufacturing
32,114
35.9%
35,770
33.4%
48,307
37.0%
57,272
39.1%
Petroleum
Processing and
Coking
2,672
3.0%
4,004
3.7%
6,833
5.2%
9,889
6.8%
Chemical
Manufacturing
17,684
19.8%
18,728
17.5%
23,348
17.9%
25,034
17.1%
Non-metallic
mineral
manufacturing
4,462
5.0%
4,272
4.0%
6,376
4.9%
6,872
4.7%
Iron and Steel
Making
1,881
2.1%
2,042
1.9%
2,856
2.2%
3,312
2.3%
Nonferrous
Metals
673
0.8%
906
0.8%
1,394
1.1%
2,605
1.8%
Manufacturing,
other
4,742
5.3%
5,818
5.4%
7,500
5.7%
9,560
6.5%
114
-------
2009
2010
2011
2012
Volume
%
Volume
%
Volume
%
Volume
%
Utilities
13,382
14.9%
18,907
17.7%
22,495
17.2%
23,452
16.0%
Electricity and
Heat
12,791
14.3%
18,080
16.9%
21,590
16.5%
22,502
15.4%
TRANSPORT,
STORAGE, POST
9,107
10.2%
10,670
10.0%
13,835
10.6%
15,451
10.6%
COMMERCIAL
2,492
2.8%
2,773
3.0%
3,548
2.7%
4,059
2.8%
RESIDENTIAL
17,767
19.8%
22,690
21.2%
26,438
20.3%
28,827
19.7%
OTHER
2,364
2.6%
2,600
2.4%
2,714
2.1%
3,288
2.2%
Source: CESY (2013)p. 84
Electric Power,
Gas and Water
FIGURE 30: CHINA'S NATURAL GAS USAGE BY SECTOR
5.1.1.2 Civil and Commercial Use of Natural Gas
An NDRC white paper in 2007 listed urban civil use - residential and commercial - as the top level
priority for the gas industry (NDRC, 2007.2). Civil use grew by 20 billion cubic meters between 2000 and
2009, accounting for 30 percent of the growth in consumption and rising to 22 percent of the absolute
total, as local governments in all areas of the country scrambled to obtain access to natural gas, and
115
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private as well as publicly owned natural gas distribution networks sprouted up in cities all over the
country (Figure 31).
Only 25 percent of the reported 690 million people living in Chinese cities, suburbs, and towns had
access to natural gas at year-end 2011, Entire provinces, such as Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi offered
almost no gas to urban residents, and even developed provinces such as Jiangsu and Guangdong offered
only 30 percent or less.
Most of those urban households that do burn gas, use it only for cooking and hot water, and not for
space heating, for which they depend mainly on coal fired district heating plants. The substitution of
gas-fired district heating or direct gas burning for coal-fired district heating is a major source of latent
demand for gas. In short, civil use may well be the most significant driver of natural gas demand in the
medium-term.
Figure 31 shows China's urban population with access to natural gas by province.
Population of China with Access to Natural Gas and
Consumption by Province, 2012
Natural Gas Consumption (Mm3)
^mMioIoooW
5.000
/\/ Existing Pipelines Tibet
/' V Pipelines Under Construction
Population with Access to Natural Gas, 2012
I 10 - 500,000
1 i 500,001 - 2,000,000
¦ 2,000,001 -4,000,000
¦ 4,000,001 -8,000,000
¦ 8,000,001 -10,000,000
¦ 10,000,001 -18,660,000
Source: CESY 2013
1,500
Kilometers
NOTE: Pipeline locations may not represent exact locations.
FIGURE 31: POPULATION OF CHINA WITH ACCESS TO NATURAL GAS AND CONSUMPTION BY PROVINCE, 2012
Source: China Today (2010), NBSC (2012), CESY (2013)
5:1.1.3 Industrial Fuel
The central government's white paper on natural gas use called for substitution of natural gas for fuel oil
and coal gas in industry, where possible. Industrial fuel oil consumption dropped nearly half over 2005-
2009 to 14 million tonnes, accounting for a 15-16 billion cubic meter increase in natural gas
116
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consumption over the period3 (CESY, 2010). The Yaohua Glass Plant in Qinhuangdao, which switched
from coal gas to natural gas, accounted for about 400 million cubic meters of new natural gas
consumption. As local governments press to reduce emissions, gas can be expected to replace not only
fuel oil and coal gas, but also coal in sectors such as food processing, textiles and non-ferrous metals
manufacturing, where coal is still the dominant fuel.
By contrast, the volume of gas consumed as a chemical feedstock, the main end use prior to 2000,
started to decrease in 2007 - a trend that is expected to continue. The government's 2007 white paper
forbade the construction of new ammonia and methanol plants using natural gal feedstock, and a
number of existing ones are converting to other fuels, including coke oven by-product gas.
5.1.1.4 Power Sector
Combined cycle electric power plants accounted for 12.5 billion cubic meters, or about 20 percent of the
increase in gas consumption from 2000-2009. Approximately 20,000 MW of large combined cycle power
plants were built, driven both by acute power shortages and by central and local government concern
that there be firm off takers for the gas coming through the new pipelines and LNG import terminals.
There is enormous room and obvious environmental incentive for growth of gas-fired power, which only
accounted for about three percent of total national generating capacity in 2011. However, the pace of
combined cycle power plant construction slowed down noticeably from 2010-2012. Unexpectedly
strong demand for gas in the residential/commercial sector decreased pressure to build combined cycle
power plants, and it remained unclear as of mid-2012 how quickly the use of natural gas in power plants
would increase.
The NDRC's 2007 gas utilization white paper listed power as a second tier priority for gas consumption,
and the pace of combined cycle power plant construction clearly slowed down starting from about 2010.
In addition, because of the high price of gas relative to coal (at 600 CNY per tonne for 5500 kcal/kg coal
and 2.0 CNY per 38,000 kJ cubic meter of gas), fuel expenses per kWh for coal are about 50 percent
cheaper than gas. This has led the grid to use gas-fired plants as peak regulation plants producing at
3500-4000 hours per year, rather than base-loaded plants, despite their high thermal efficiency.
Under these conditions, a return to rapid growth for combined cycle power plants may require a change
in economics of gas relative to coal and/or a more definitive top-down mandate from the government
to substitute for coal-fired power. A middle of the road projection by the State Power Grid Corporation
suggested that the proportion of gas-fired power generation capacity might rise from 3 percent to 6
percent from 2010-2020 which, assuming 6 percent per year growth in power generation capacity, is
equivalent to an approximately 15 percent per year increase in gas-fired power output.
5.1.1.5 Automotive Sector
NDRC listed automotive fuel as one of the encouraged uses of natural gas in its 2007 white paper, and
the rapid development of a gas-based vehicle industry is a distinctive feature of China's natural gas
development. Transportation accounted for approximately one eighth of the increase in natural gas
3 Based on assumed thermal value of 42,400 kJ/kg for fuel oil, and 38,000 kJ/m3 for gas.
117
-------
consumption from 2000-2009, and over 10 percent of annual consumption by the end of the period. By
the end of 2011, the number of vehicles burning either CNG or LNG reached a reported one million out
of the total national inventory of 100 million automotive vehicles.
Natural gas vehicles' low conventional pollutant emissions levels have drawn the interest of both central
and local governments sensitive to the significant contribution of sustained double digit growth in
vehicle inventory to poor air quality. Low prices of natural gas relative to gasoline (priced in mid-2012 at
the equivalent of $4.03-$4.39 USD per gallon) have enabled consumers to save as much as 40 percent
on fuel fees. The costs to convert a car to run on CNG fuel, rather than gasoline, can be as low as CNY
1700 ($268 USD).
The use of CNG or LNG has also been attractive to gas distribution companies in areas such as Chongqing
and Sichuan where CNG has been established for decades. In many cases, they have they been able to
earn a higher return on sales of CNG than other forms of natural gas. CNG has also allowed distribution
companies in smaller market areas that are just beginning to introduce natural gas, to develop some
market volume quickly without having to invest initially in expensive distribution networks.
The lack of a fully developed network of CNG filling stations remains a major obstacle to a more rapid
popularization of natural gas vehicles. Despite a series of government incentives, such as fast track
approval process and credit support from lending institutions during the economic stimulus program of
2009-2011, filling stations have been slow to appear in the major urban centers of the eastern part of
the country where pressures to ensure supply for civil users are particularly acute, and where there is no
established history of CNG use.
In addition, the central government is concerned about too much gas being diverted to motor vehicles
away from even higher priority end-uses, and about the complications that large vested interests in low
CNG prices would pose to raising natural gas upstream prices to more accurately reflect both cost and
value. Therefore, it is beginning to enforce regulations that require the sale prices of CNG and LNG used
in motor vehicles to be fixed at a level no lower than 75 percent than gasoline prices, which are pegged
to the international oil market and are adjusted whenever that market moves significantly. Given these
cross-pressures at the government level, it remains to be seen to what extent natural gas will become
more than a niche fuel for the automotive sector, and how strong a market the automotive industry will
be for natural gas going forward.
5.1.2 Structure of China's Natural Gas Industry
China's onshore conventional oil and gas industry is essentially a duopoly of the central government-
owned conglomerates China National Petroleum and Natural Gas Group Corporation (CNPC, with a
listed arm known as "Petrochina"), and the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation Group (Sinopec).
CNPC has consistently been the major player in natural gas, accounting for 75.5 billion cubic meters, or
84 percent of total 90 billion cubic meter output in 2011. China National Offshore Oil Corporation
(CNOOC), the third of the central government owned conglomerates, controls offshore production,
which totaled approximately 13 billion cubic meters in 2011.
CNPC and Sinopec own and operate trunk transprovincial pipelines transporting conventional oil and
gas, with CNPC controlling the bulk of the capacity. Certain intraprovincial pipelines branching off from
118
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the trunklines are owned by the major companies, but the majority, including many that could be
considered long-distance pipelines, are owned by provincial government companies.
The allocation of CNPC and Sinopec gas to the various provinces has been determined not through
market forces, but through a bargaining process between the provinces themselves and the NDRC,
through which the gas producing areas and the coastal provinces have been given clear priority over
non-gas producing interior provinces. The basic quotas have generally been established at the time the
pipelines are built, with exact allocations decided on an annual basis. Except at the margins, neither
CNPC nor Sinopec are free to decide which customers their fields and pipelines will serve.
The downstream distribution sector, by contrast, is characterized by a striking variety of ownership
models and a great deal more freedom than compared to the upstream sector. Municipally owned
utilities still predominate in the largest cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, and the core
city of Chongqing. But new players have been allowed to enter, including subsidiaries of the upstream
major utilities, and, most importantly, private companies.
The private companies have made major inroads in second-tier cities, particularly those which have only
gained access to natural gas over the past 5-10 years. They have either created new utilities or
consolidated existing ones previously owned by the government, forming approximately one half-dozen
much larger, modern, and mostly publicly listed companies with holdings in multiple cities across
provinces. The private companies have better access to technology, capital, and management expertise.
This privatization has helped to markedly accelerate China's consumption of natural gas in urban areas
(Figure 32).
Estimated consumption by sector is as follows:
Chemical Raw Materials
Power
Industrial Fuel
28.3%
Household
54.4%
FIGURE 32: PROJECTED SECTORAL END USE BREAKDOWN OF SINOPEC SICHUAN-SHANGHAI PIPELINE GAS, IN
COMMISSION 2010
Today, these companies compete to invest in China's rapidly growing urban markets, using capital funds
raised on domestic, Hong Kong, and other stock markets. These companies aggressively bid on city gas
assets at auction, acquire the equity interests of city gas enterprises through direct negotiation, or
obtain indirect control of city gas operating concessions by jointly constructing and operating the
systems with municipal-owned city gas enterprises.
119
-------
The companies include mainland Chinese companies such as China Gas Holdings and Xin'ao, and Hong
Kong companies such as Towngas, the territory's gas distribution utility. China Gas Holdings Limited
(China Gas), listed on the Hong Kong Main Board, holds exclusive piped gas development rights in some
64 cities and regions in China. The company, incorporated in 2002, has a pipeline network more than
15,000 km long that serves 3.2 million household users and nearly 19,000 industrial and commercial
users. In addition to city gas systems, China Gas also owns six high-pressure intermediary natural gas
pipelines and 11 LPG terminals along China's southeast coast with capacity of 220,000 tonnes and LPG
storage facility with 270,000 cubic meters capacity (Liu, 2008).
Like the other nationwide private companies, ChinaGas is an important potential customer for
developers of coal mine methane utilization projects. It is, for example, the distributor in the city of
Huainan in Anhui Province, one of the focus projects of this study. Three Gorges Gas Group, a
Chongqing-based private distributor, is the owner and operator of China's first medium-distance (100
km) coal mine methane pipeline connecting Southeast Shanxi Province with Bo'ai in Henan Province.
5.1.3 Natural Gas Supply
The 17 percent growth in domestic natural gas production from 2000-2007 slowed down to 10.5 percent
from 2007-2011, necessitating the import of 30 billion cubic meters of gas in 2011, approximately 23
percent of total consumption. The draft of the government's Twelfth Five-year Plan for natural gas
projects that domestic conventional natural gas production in 2015 will only rise to about 120 billion
cubic meters from the 2011 level.
The government hopes that nonconventional gas could supply an additional 50 billion cubic meters,
including 20 billion cubic meters of coalbed and coal mine methane and 30 billion cubic meters from
plants converting coal to methane, as well as perhaps 6.5 billion from the country's nascent shale gas
industry. At these levels, natural gas imports of order of magnitude 90 billion cubic meters would be
required to meet targeted 260 billion cubic meter consumption in 2015 (People's Daily Net, 2012).
5.1.3.1 Onshore Gas Production and Pipeline Transmission
Domestic Conventional Gas
China enjoys only modest domestic endowments of conventional natural gas, and the great majority of
known deposits are located in western areas distant from population and industrial centers. Over 80
percent of China's production, and almost all of the growth of the past decade has come from the
following fields:
• Tarim Basin in the far northwestern desert of Xinjiang Autonomous Region (Province),
developed exclusively by CNPC;
• Changqing Oil and Gas fields in the Ordos Basin in the Shaanxi-lnner Mongolia border region
(output counted under Shaanxi Province), over 90 percent of which has been developed by
CNPC. Despite difficult technical conditions and low permeability, these field are now the largest
gas producer in the country;
120
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• The Sichuan gas fields, the only major deposits whose development predates the 21st century.
These fields were exclusively developed by CNPC until Sinopec commissioned the 10 billion
cubic meter per year Puguang field in 2010, which accounts for the jump in Sichuan production
starting from that year; and
• The Caidam basin in Qinghai Province, another CNPC development.
Most of the remainder of China's conventional gas output is associated gas from oilfields such as Daqing
in Heilongjiang Province (CNPC) and Puyang in Henan (Sinopec). CNOOC exploits one large offshore field
in the South China Sea, which exports most of its production to Hong Kong as well as smaller deposits
off Shanghai and in Bohai Bay to the north. Table 54 shows China's natural gas production by province.
Barring spectacular new discoveries, technical breakthroughs, and/or changing economics the CNPC
expects only incremental increase from most of its existing deposits in coming years. Production in the
Xinjiang Tarim Basin may already have peaked in 2010.
TABLE 54: CHINA NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION BY PROVINCE (MILLION CUBIC METERS)
Provinces and Municipalities
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
North
Beijing
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Tianjin
1,050
1,334
1,401
1,436
1,719
1,843
1,873
Hebei
655
714
874
1,087
1,270
1,220
1,336
Shanxi
602
NA
521
NA
NA
NA
NA
Inner Mongolia1
5,307
7,050
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Northeast
Liaoning
1,194
872
871
810
800
720
721
Jilin
241
522
874
1,162
1,370
1,500
2,270
Heilongjiang
2,452
2,550
2,710
3,004
3,000
3,100
3,368
East
Shanghai
564
507
429
403
303
300
298
Shandong
855
784
885
905
533
520
600
Central-South
Henan
1,868
1,576
1,122
2,958
672
500
501
Guangdong
4,894
5,247
6,078
5,843
7,840
8,330
8,352
Hainan
205
203
232
186
180
200
180
Southwest
Chongqing
647
500
954
60
120
46
40
Sichuan
15,995
18,746
19,423
19,356
23,765
26,553
24,226
Northwest
Shaanxi
8,047
11,010
14,420
18,952
22,349
27,221
31,130
Qinghai
2,503
3,430
4,365
4,307
5,609
6,501
6,428
Xinjiang
16,420
21,020
23,589
24,539
24,990
23,533
25,301
Total
63,499
76,065
78,748
85,008
94,520
102,087
106,624
121
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Source: CESY (2013) p. 43; CESY (2010); Sichuan, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Sichuan, Heilongjiang, Tianjin Statistical Bureaus (SB)
As noted above, the development of the western gas fields and the introduction of gas to eastern China
in the 21st century would not have been possible without a central government decision to build the
country's first long-distance gas pipelines (Table 55). The net impact of these projects through the end
of 2010 is as follows:
• The capability to transport almost 30 billion cubic meters per year to Shanghai, the Yangtze
Delta Provinces, and areas in between through the CNPC flagship 3900 kilometer first West-to-
East pipeline from Xinjiang in the far northwest (17 billion cubic meters) and the Sinopec
pipeline from Sichuan/Chongqing (12 billion cubic meters). The bulk of the first West-to-East
pipeline throughput is consumed in Jiangsu Province.
• The capability to transport 30 billion cubic meters per year from the Changqing Gas field to
Beijing and areas in between through three CNPC pipelines. Some gas from these pipelines has
been diverted to the Yangtze River delta through a connector pipeline linking them to the West-
to-East line.
• The supply of an estimated 10 billion cubic meters to northern and Yangtze Valley interior
provinces such as Shanxi, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi through the above-mentioned
lines, plus an additional CNPC three billion cubic meter per year pipeline from Chongqing to
Wuhan, the Hubei capital on the Yangtze River.
Thousands of more kilometers built by provincial gas companies move gas from these trunkline transfer
stations to distribution company citygates. As noted above, the allocation of the gas is determined by
bargaining between the provinces, the NDRC and the producers. The results of this bargaining have
tended to favor the coastal provinces and the provinces in which the gas fields are located, at the
expense of the interior provinces on the pipeline route.
TABLE 55: CHINA MAJOR LONG-DISTANCE GAS PIPELINES, 1997-2011
Pipeline
Length (km)
Design Capacity
(million cubic meters)
Gas Source
Date in
Operation
In Operation
First West-to-
East pipeline:
Xinjiang -
Shanghai: CNPC
3,900
12,000 (original)
17,000(expanded)
Tarim Basin,
Xinjiang, and
Changqing
2005
2009
Second West-to-
East Pipeline:
Xinjiang-
Guangdong:
CNPC
8,700 (including
major branch
lines)
30,000
Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan
2010-2012
Sichuan Gas to
the East
Chongqing-
Shanghai:
Sinopec
2170
12,000
Puguang Gas field,
Sichuan
2010
Jingbian County
896
15,000
Changqing, Shaanxi-
2010
122
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Pipeline
Length (km)
Design Capacity
(million cubic meters)
Gas Source
Date in
Operation
In Operation
(Shaanxi)-Beijing
Number 3: CNPC
Inner Mongolia
Jingbian County-
Beijing Number
2: CNPC
935
12,000
Changqing
2006
Jingbian County-
Beijing: CNPC
853
3,500
Changqing
1997
Chongqing-
Wuhan (Hubei):
CNPC
695
3,000
Sichuan Gas fields
2005
Yizheng
(Jiangsu)-Anping
(Hebei)
connector
pipeline: CNPC
886
(1498 including
branches)
9,000
West-to-East and
Second Jingbian-
Beijing pipelines
2006
Huaiyang
(Henan)-Wuhan
connector
pipeline: CNPC
475
1,500
Chongqing-Wuhan
and West-to-East
pipelines
2007
Yulin (Shaanxi )-
Tai'an
(Shandong):
Sinopec
1045
3,000
Ordos Basin Yulin
Gas field
2012-2013
Sebei-Xining
(Qinghai) -
Lanzhou (Gansu):
CNPC
953
2,000
Sebei Field, Qinghai
2001
Jingbian County
(Shaanxi)-Xian:
Shaanxi Province
Gas Company
476
1,500
Changqing (Shaanxi-
Inner Mongolia)
2005
Jingbian County-
Xian:
488
1,000
Changqing
1997
Under Construction
Third West-to-
East: CNPC
5220
25,000
Central Asia
2015
Burma-Yunnan-
Guangxi
934 (in-China
portion)
12,000
Burma
2013
Source: Xinhuanet (2001); China Central Government Website (2006); Yangtze Evening News (2005); China Oil and Gas Pipeline
Website (2004); China Oil Network Website (2005); General Electric Company (2008); China Daily (2005)
123
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Import Gas Pipelines
In recognition of the limitations of domestic gas fields, the CNPC made moves to secure international
pipeline gas from the following sources:
(1) Central Asia.
After complex negotiations in which the governments concerned played a major role, the CNPC signed
agreements with relevant counterparties in 2007-2008 to import 30 billion cubic meters of
Turkmenistan gas per year to China over a 30-year period, including 13 billion from concessions it would
develop itself along the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan border, and 17 billion directly from the Turkmen
producer Turkmengazi. With financing from Chinese state banks The agreement also included the
construction of two side-by-side 15 billion cubic meter per year, 1818 km pipelines through Uzbekistan
and Kazakhstan to the Xinjiang border in cooperation with the local governments and pipeline
authorities, and.
As work on these facilities progressed from 2008-2010, the CNPC undertook in parallel the construction
of a second West-to-East trunk pipeline running 4,945 kilometers to Guangzhou, with eight branch
pipelines totaling 3,849 to destinations throughout central and eastern China to transport the Central
Asian gas to Chinese customers. Guangdong Province, which began receiving gas near the end of 2011,
will reportedly consume 10 billion cubic meters; a branch from Jiangxi Province will supply another 10
billion to the lower Yangtze Valley provinces, primarily Zhejiang. The entire project, which has been
reported to cost the equivalent of $20 billion, has been commissioned in stages starting from 2010 and
will achieve full capacity by 2013-2014. Shipments in 2011 had already reached 13 billion cubic meters,
over 40 percent of potential throughput.
The CNPC is following up this massive Central Asian project with a second one of comparable size
involving: (1) Gas purchase agreements with suppliers in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, as well as
Turkmenistan totaling 25 billion cubic meters; (2) Addition of a third central Asian pipeline of 25 billion
cubic meter capacity to transport this gas to the Xinjiang border; and (3) Construction of a third West-to-
East pipeline which will parallel the second one for much of the route, but which terminates in Fujian
Province. Construction work began in 2012, and is projected to be completed in the 2014-2016 time-
frame.
(2) Burma
In December 2008, CNPC signed a series of agreements with the Burmese government and a Daewoo
gas production consortium to build a 793 km, 12 billion cubic meter capacity pipeline to transport gas
from two offshore blocks in the Bay of Bengal across Burma to the Chinese border. The gas will feed a
new 934 km pipeline from the border through Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi Provinces in Southwest,
terminating in the Guangxi Provincial capital Nanning. Construction of the Burma portion began in 2010,
and the entire project is anticipated to come into operation in 2013-2014.
The Second West-to-East pipeline and its major branches are being connected to the first West-to-East
pipeline in at least three locations. Another branch line from the second West-to-East pipeline runs from
Ningxia Province to the Changqing gas fields of Inner Mongolia, connecting there with the pipelines to
Beijing. An additional line from Ningxia is planned to connect the second and third West-to-East
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pipelines to Chongqing, the Sichuan gas fields, and the Burma-China pipeline. Finally, the Burma-China
pipeline will link to the Nanning, Guangxi terminus of the second West-to-East pipeline.
The new pipelines described above will bring a total of over 65 billion cubic meters of foreign pipeline
gas into China by 2015-2016. Their completion, furthermore, will mark the inauguration of a true, if
rudimentary interconnected pipeline network extending into all of China's provinces except Tibet.
This network will give the CNPC more flexibility for gas dispatch than it has ever enjoyed in the past, but
it is unlikely to provide close to enough gas for all potential civil, commercial, and industrial consumers
in these cities. Shenzhen will by itself absorb a reported four billion of the 10 billion cubic meters of
second West-to-East pipeline gas allocated to Guangdong.
5.1.3.2 Imported LNG
From 2000 the central government committed to import LNG from outside of China to inaugurate
natural gas usage in the southern coastal provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, and to augment gas
supply in other coastal areas. By 2011, LNG imported into large terminals built by CNOOC and CNPC in
Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai, and Jiangsu already accounted for 17.8 billion cubic meters equivalent, or
14.6 percent of national natural gas consumption (Table 56). The majority of imported LNG is gasified
and fed into newly built (in the case of Guangdong and Fujian) or existing pipeline systems for shipment
to municipal and industrial customers. A portion is shipped via small tanker truck to customers without
direct pipeline access.
By 2015, 12 terminals with aggregate capacity of 40 million tonnes (57 billion cubic meter equivalent)
will be in operation (Table 57). To supply these terminals, Chinese distributors have entered into long
term purchase agreements with producers from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Qatar to supply a
total of 31 million tonnes (45 billion cubic meters) per year. This volume, when added to the projected
67 billion cubic meters of pipeline imports from Central Asia and Burma, will add a total of 95 billion
cubic meters of supply, more than one third of projected total gas consumption in 2015 and in line with
the target in the Twelfth Five-year Plan.
TABLE 56: LNG SUPPLY CONTRACTS
Supplier
Buyer
Supply Period
Volume (million tpy)
Destination
Australia
Northwest Shelf
Project
CNOOC
2006-2031
3.7
Shenzhen Dapeng
Terminal
Indonesia
Tangguh Project
CNOOC
2009-2034
2.6
Fujian terminal
Petronas
(Malaysia)
CNOOC
2009-2034
1.1 (2009-2011)
3 (2012-2034)
Shanghai
Qatargas II and III
CNOOC
June 2008
(2009-2034)
2
Shenzhen, Fujian,
Ningbo
Qatargas IV
Project
CNPC
2011-2036
3
Jiangsu, Dalian,
Hebei Tangshan
Total portfolio
(France)
CNOOC
2010-?
1
CNOOC sites
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Shell: Australia
Gorgon and other
locations
CNPC
2011-2031
2
Jiangsu, Dalian,
Tangshan
GDF Suez
(portfolio)
CNOOC
2013-2017
2.6
Various
Qatargas
CNOOC
2013
3
Exxon Mobil:
Gorgon Project
Australia
CNPC
2014-2034
2.25
Jiangsu, Dalian,
Tangshan
Australia
Queensland
Curtis Project
CNOOC
2014-2034
3.6
Various
Exxon Mobile
Papua New
Guinea
Sinopec
2013
2
Qingdao, Shandong
Source: Xinhua January 23, 2007; Shell October 4, 2008; Xinhua November 25, 2008; China Daily June 25, 2008
TABLE 57: LNG IMPORT TERMINAL PROJECTS 2006-2015
Location and Sponsor
Capacity
(million tpy)
Status
Gas Use
Shenzhen Dapeng
(CNOOC)
3.7 (expanded to
6.8)
Onstream 2006
Five power plants (70
percent); municipal
distribution in Guangzhou,
Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan
(30 percent)
Fujian (CNOOC)
2.6
Onstream 2008
Three large power plants (65
percent); municipal
distribution in 5 cities (35
percent)
Shanghai (CNOOC)
3
Onstream 2009
NA
Rudong, Jiangsu
(CNPC)
3.5
On-stream 2011
Peaking gas supply to Jiangsu-
Shanghai area;
interconnection to first West-
to-East pipeline; tanker truck
shipments
Dalian, Liaoning
(CNPC)
3
Onstream 2012,
To be connected with a new
Liaoning Province pipeline
network and Qinghuangdao-
Shenyang pipeline
Ningbo, Zhejiang
(CNOOC)
3
Construction
On-stream 2012
NA
Zhuhai, Guangdong
(CNOOC)
3.5
Civil construction
On-stream 2013
NA
Jieyang, Guangdong
(CNOOC)
2
Civil construction
On-stream 2013
For the eastern Guangdong
area
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Location and Sponsor
Capacity
(million tpy)
Status
Gas Use
Yangpu, Hainan
(CNOOC)
3
Construction
On-stream 2014
NA
Tangshan, Hebei
(CNPC PetroChina)
3
Construction
On-stream 2013
NA
Qingdao, Shandong
(Sinopec)
3
Civil Construction
On-stream 2013
NA
Shenzhen Diefu
(CNOOC)
4
Civil construction
On-stream 2015
NA
Source: Xinhua (2007); PetroChina (2008); Bloomberg (2008); China Daily (2008); China Daily (2009) ChinaMining.org (2008);
Guangzhou Daily (2010); Hainan Municipal Website (2011); Peninsula Daily News (2011); Chinagate (2009); China Development
Gateway Network (2009); China Central Television (2010); ChinaPower (2006); People's Daily Online (2006); Xinhuanet (2004);
WhatsonXiamen (2008)
5.1.3.3 Small-Scale Domestic LNG
A proliferation of small-scale LNG plants using on-land, domestic fuel sources play a distinctive spot
supplier role in China's natural gas industry. At least a dozen such plants using both imported and
domestic technology, with total capacity of over one billion cubic meters, have been built from 2005-
2012.
The output of these facilities is shipped by tanker truck to faraway consumers around the country. It has
proven indispensable for distribution companies in large and medium-sized cities not connected to
pipeline gas that would otherwise have no source of product, and to connected utilities that receive
insufficient allocations for their existing customers.
The majority of these plants use gas from nearby conventional gas fields as a feedstock; some use
alternative fuels such as CBM, CMM, coke oven gas, or even coal in one case. Manufacturers include
downstream gas distribution companies wishing to lock in supply, companies affiliated with local
governments near the gas fields that have received gas allocations through political connections, and
affiliates of the major upstream oil and gas companies themselves.
Local LNG has been attractive to the manufacturers because, unlike pipeline gas or LNG from the big
import terminals discussed above, sales prices are not regulated by the central government. Distribution
companies, particularly in richer provinces such as Guangdong, that have not been connected to
pipelines have proven willing to offer prices well above that for pipeline gas; their final customers who
have no history or vested interest with cheaper pipeline gas have proven willing to absorb the cost.
The NDRC looks skeptically at what would appear to be an irrational use of resources that could be
shipped more efficiently through pipelines; its 2007 white paper on natural gas utilization policy stated
that "It is clearly forbidden for gas from large and medium-sized fields to be used for the manufacture of
LNG". But while this directive has undoubtedly reduced the number of such plants under construction, it
does not appear to have eliminated them completely. The "no build" policy, furthermore, does not
apply to domestic LNG plants using nonconventional fuels such as CBM and CMM.
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5.1.4 China's Natural Gas Prices
5.1.4.1 Policy and Reforms
Through 2012, the NDRC has strictly regulated the production and pipeline distribution prices charged
by the major oil and gas companies. It has striven, not always successfully, to simultaneously: (1) cover
the oil companies' production and transmission costs with allowance for a modest rate of return and; (2)
fix prices at a level that the major consumers, including politically important consumers such as chemical
fertilizer plants, can absorb.
The result has been a complex, multi-tiered pricing system with different wholesale prices charged to
different categories of end-user. Prices have typically been adjusted upwards by margins of 25-50
percent about every three years as producers' margins come under pressure.
The NDRC has been considering two not necessarily compatible strategies for reforming upstream
pricing: (1) letting the market determine natural gas prices by opening up the upstream sector to more
competition, maintaining the competition that already exists in the downstream distribution sector, and
regulating pipeline prices as a natural monopoly to which all upstream and downstream players enjoy
equal access on equal terms; and (2) capturing the full economic value of natural gas and encouraging
conservation by linking its prices to those of competing fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), fuel
oil, and gasoline. In late 2011 NDRC issued a set of experimental regulations for the southern provinces
of Guangdong and Guangxi that combined elements of both approaches with some from the existing
system.
Under these regulations, wholesale citygate prices4 for onshore domestic or imported pipeline gas were
fixed at 2.74 and 2.75 CNY per cubic meter, respectively, for Guangdong and Guangxi. These price levels
were said to be based on a formula, fixing them at 90 percent on a heating value basis of a basket that is
weighted 60 percent for fuel oil and 40 percent for LPG imported to Shanghai in 2010 ($80 USD per
barrel of crude oil basis). The price is then adjusted for the shipping route and costs for the main source
of gas and taking into consideration the level of economic development in the provinces.
According to the regulations, these prices should be adjusted at regular intervals according to changes in
the prices of the fuel oil and LPG basket, but in the interests of stability would be kept at their initial
levels "until the price reform is extended to the rest of the country" (NDRC, 2011.5). The many
questions this statement left unanswered included how to compensate the CNPC for the losses incurred
shipped to Guangdong from Central Asia.
In a nod to competition, the pipeline citygate prices were fixed as ceilings, with consumers free to try to
negotiate lower prices with shippers without restriction. The regulations also indicated that as a matter
of principle, non-conventional gas such as shale gas, CBM and CMM should be set freely, but that the
referenced citygate prices would apply for the time being to any non-conventional gas shipped through
the major pipelines to Guangdong and Guangxi.
4 Transfer prices from the national upstream pipeline companies to their customers, including provincial pipeline companies,
municipal distribution companies, and certain large industrial enterprises
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5.1.4.2 Domestic: WellheadPipeline, and Citygate Prices, 2012
Following in Table 58 and Table 59 are wellhead prices, pipeline transmission prices, and reported or
estimated pipeline citygate prices as of August 2012. The lower boundary of the range for each price
point represents the government "baseline" price, and the upper boundary represents the maximum
allowable 10 percent over benchmark. It can be seen that delivered prices from domestic gas fields to
major cities range for the most part between 1.5 and 2.4 CNY per cubic meter.
TABLE 58: WELL-HEAD NATURAL GAS PRICES, 2012
Chemical
Fertilizer
Direct Supply to
Industry
Municipal
Distribution
Company to
Industry
Municipal
Distribution
Company (Civil
Use)
CNY per m3
USD/mmbtu
Sichuan Oil and Gas
field (local)
0.92-1.012
1.505-1.656
1.55-1.705
1.15-1.265
4.02
6.58
6.78
5.03
Changqing Oilfield
0.94-1.034
1.355-1.491
1.4-1.54
1-1.1
4.12-4.53
5.93-6.53
6.12-6.73
4.37-4.81
Qinghai Oilfield
0.8-0.979
1.29-1.419
1.29-1.419
0.89-0.979
3.89-4.23
5.64 -6.20
5.64-6.20
3.89-4.28
Xinjiang Oilfields
(local)
0.79-0.869
1.215-1.337
1.19-1.309
0.79-0.869
3.45-3.80
5.31-5.841
5.20-5.72
3.45-3.80
Xinjiang: West-to-
East Pipeline
0.79-0.869
1.215-1.337
1.19-1.309
0.79-0.869
3.45-3.80
5.31-5.841
5.20-5.72
3.45-3.80
Sichuan: Chongqing
to Wuhan Pipeline
1.141-1.256
1.541-1.70
1.541-1.70
1.141-1.256
4.99-5.49
6.74-7.41
6.74-7.41
4.995.49
Changqing: Shaanxi
to Beijing Pipeline
1.06-1.166
1.46-1.606
1.46-1.606
1.06-1.166
4.635.09
6.38-7.02
6.38-7.02
4.63-5.09
Sichuan to Shanghai
Pipeline
1.51-1.661
6.60-7.26
Source: NDRC (2010.2) Note: All prices are inclusive of 13 percent VAT. Assumes 6.35 CNY per USD and 38,000 kJ/m3 of gas.
TABLE 59: DOMESTIC PIPELINE GAS CITYGATE PRICES IN REPRESENTATIVE CHINESE CITIES, 2012
Gas Source
Pipeline
Transmission
Price (CNY/ m3)
End User
Category
Citygate Price
CNY/m3
USD/mmbtu
Beijing
Changqing gas
field via Jingbian-
Beijing Pipeline
0.42
Industry
(except
fertilizer)
Civil Use
2.026
8.87
1.586
6.95
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Gas Source
Pipeline
Transmission
Price (CNY/ m3)
End User
Category
Citygate Price
CNY/m3
USD/mmbtu
Shanghai
Xinjiang via First
West-to-East
Pipeline
0.98
Industry
Civil Use
2.30
10.07
1.85
8.10
Shanghai
Sichuan via
Sinopec
Chongqing-
Shanghai pipeline
0.84
All
2.38
10.42
1.86
8.12
Wuhan, Hubei
Province
Sichuan via
Sinopec
Chongqing-
Shanghai Pipeline
0.54
All
2.08
9.11
1.62
7.11
Anhui
Provincet
Xinjiang via First
West-to-East
Pipeline
0.75
Industry
Civil Use
2.07
9.06
1.62
7.09
Chongqing
Sichuan gas fields
0.12-0.13
Industry
Civil Use
1.8
1.4
+Anhui prices include only transfer prices to provincial pipeline company, not the provincial pipeline company's own charges.
5.1.4.3 Imported Pipeline Gas Prices
Gas imports have clearly put pressure on the domestic gas price structure. While the purchase price for
gas imported from Turkmenistan via the Central Asian pipeline has never been publicly released,
numerous Chinese media reports indicate that it is adjusted at regular intervals according to
international oil prices, and that the delivered price to the Chinese border is 2.10-2.2 CNY per cubic
meter at a benchmark oil price of $60 USD per barrel. This benchmark was 33-100 percent higher than
wellhead prices from domestic Chinese fields as of third quarter 2012; the real differential was still
higher given international oil futures prices of around $95 USD per barrel.
Through the third quarter of 2012, the CNPC was not allowed to pass these costs through to its gas
offtakers, suffering significant losses that were partly offset by VAT rebates from the government. The
CNPC reported to have reached agreement with the various provinces on a new price structure for
Central Asian gas in preparation for the formal declaration of pipeline completion towards the end of
2012. It can be estimated, based on the reported 2.15 CNY benchmark price to the border, and on the
pipeline transmission prices for the first West-to-East pipeline shipping domestic gas, that the delivered
price for Central Asian gas to Eastern and Southern Coastal load centers would have to be in excess of 3
CNY per cubic meter to make the CNPC whole.
According to one media report, CNPC will pay $7.73 USD per mmbtu for Burmese offshore gas landed in
Burma, equivalent to about 1.75 CNY per cubic meter indexed to oil. Given shorter pipeline distances
compared to the West-to-East lines from Xinjiang, it can be estimated that the wholesale price charged
to load centers in Southwest China would be somewhere in between that for domestic pipeline gas and
for Central Asian gas, perhaps 2.5 CNY per cubic meter.
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5.1.4.4 Imported LNG
Import LNG prices signed by the CNOOC for the initial import terminals in Shenzhen and Fujian with
suppliers from Australia and Indonesia in 2002-2003 ($2.85 and $3.80 USD per mmbtu, based on then-
prevailing prices of about $20-25 USD per barrel) were compatible with China's domestic oilfield
wholesale prices of 2012. The ex-terminal prices charged for this LNG when the plants came on-stream
in 2006 and 2008 appears to have been in the vicinity of 1.50 CNY per cubic meter.
Prices for contracts signed with Qatari and other suppliers starting from 2008, indexed to oil prices 3-5
times higher than in 2002-2003, have put considerably more pressure on China's gas cost structure.
Press and industry insider reports suggest that ex-terminal sales prices to final offtakers are order of
magnitude 3 CNY per cubic meter or slightly higher.
5.1.4.5 Domestically Manufactured LNG Prices
As noted above, the sales prices of the small-scale domestic LNG plants is unregulated, and determined
strictly by market forces. Prices of 3-4 CNY per cubic meter (including transport) have been obtained for
regions such as Nanning, Guangxi Province, or small and medium-size cities in Guangdong Province
which have not enjoyed access to pipeline gas. The government-fixed prices for Central Asian gas will
likely determine what the LNG plants will be able to charge in the longer term. If the government allows
the CNPC to recover its costs for the Central Asian gas, a level of at least 3 CNY per cubic meter could
probably be maintained unless there is a glut of supply.
5.1.4.6 Retail Prices
The retail prices charged by gas distribution companies are regulated by municipal governments or, in
certain provinces with low consumption levels, by provincial governments. The guiding principle is to
allow distribution companies a modest return of about eight percent.
The central government charges lower wholesale prices for pipeline gas to be sold for civil use (Table 58
and Table 59). Philosophies differ regarding retail pricing differentials, with most utilities fixing the
industrial cost higher to subsidize residential consumers, while others try to recover distribution costs
from residential consumers, which are higher than for their industrial counterparts. National regulations
have required municipalities to hold public meetings prior to increases in residential use prices, which
creates some pressure to keep them in check; industrial prices have not been subjected to the public
meetings requirement.
Utilities are allowed to automatically pass through published wholesale price increases for domestic
conventional natural gas to industrial customers. Certain utilities such as Chongqing now do so for civil
use customers as well, and this could be the trend for the future throughout the country.
There are significant regional variations based on proximity to gas. In cities connected to domestic
pipeline gas, prices to residential users were in the range of 2.0 to 2.5 CNY per cubic meter in 2012.
Prices have been higher in the major cities of Southern coastal Guangdong province, whose main source
of supply has been imported LNG.
Retail prices for gas of 4-5 CNY per cubic meter have been charged in municipalities unconnected to
pipeline gas. These municipalities have been totally reliant on domestic small-scale LNG plants, which
are allowed to charge market wholesale prices. As pipeline gas gradually arrives, prices in these
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locations can be expected to drop somewhat, although they will most likely be significantly higher than
in cities with a longer history of connection to the long-distance pipelines.
Table 60 below shows regulated retail prices charged in a sample of cities as of mid-2012. Many cities in
the Yangtze Valley, such as Shanghai, were preparing to increase prices to reflect the higher cost of
Central Asian gas.
TABLE 60: NATURAL GAS RETAIL PRICES IN SELECTED CHINESE CITIES, THIRD QUARTER 2012 (CNY/M3)
Residential
Industrial
Gas Source
Timing of most
recent price
increase
Beijing
2.05
2.84
Changqing Gas
field
2010 (industrial)
2006 (residential)
Shanghai
2.5
3.39 -4.19
Pipeline from
Xinjiang, Shanghai,
imported LNG;
2010 (industrial)
2008 (residential)
Chongqing
1.72
2.24
Nearby Sichuan
Gas fields
2010
Guangzhou
3.45
2.21 (Direct sale by
pipeline company at
high pressure)
4.85 (sale by distribution
company at lower
pressure)
Import LNG,
Shenzhen
terminal; Central
Asian gas (2012)
2007 (residential)
2009 (industrial)
Nanning, Guangxi
4.1
NA
Domestic LNG;
Central Asian
pipeline gas as of
2012-2013
2011
5.1.5 Unconventional Gas: CBM and CMM
CBM and CMM have gradually evolved from a pure mine safety concern to a significant component of
natural gas development in the government's Twelfth Five-year Plan. The degree of actual integration of
CMM into the natural gas economy will depend on continuing demand-side pressures, the favorability of
the regulatory environment, and the quality of management of CMM operation by the mines
themselves.
5.1.5.1 CBM and CMM in the Twelfth Five-year Plan
The government's draft Twelfth Five-year Plan for natural gas explicitly includes CBM for the first time,
projecting consumption to rise to 20 billion cubic meters by 2015, or about 8 percent of the total. The
NEA's Twelfth Five-year Plan for CBM and CMM is even more ambitious, calling for total production to
rise to 30 billion cubic meters by 2015 - 16 billion for CBM and 14 billion for CMM. The utilization rate
for pumped CMM is called to rise to 8.4 billion cubic meters from the 2010 level (NEA, 2011).
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Of the 16 billion cubic meters of CBM captured through surface drilling, the NEA projects that 10 billion
should come from the Qinshui Basin, 5.4 billion from Ordos Basin, with the remaining 600 million
coming from smaller developments from other provinces. Significantly, the plan also calls for the
construction of 13 pipelines with total length of over 2000 km and 12 billion cubic meters per year total
shipping capacity, signaling a significantly increased effort to integrate CBM into the largest natural gas
economy.
These efforts were already underway in the latter part of the 2000s, with the construction by CNPC of a
one billion cubic meter per year CBM processing facility in the Qinshui basin with the intent to inject its
own and third-party CBM into the nearby first West-to-East pipeline. The government of Shanxi, the
location of most of the CBM development (and an area which has received only limited allocations of
pipelined conventional gas) is spearheading a particularly aggressive in-province mixed natural gas-CBM
pipeline program including, among other facilities:
• Two billion cubic meter per year 460 km line from Changzhi in the Southeast to the Provincial
Capital Taiyuan, completed in 2012, which will ship a mixture of Qinshui CBM and conventional
gas from Sinopec's Shaanxi-Shandong line.
• Two lines totaling over 300 km with capacity to ship about one billion cubic meters from Ordos
and Gujiao areas in the western part of the province to Taiyuan.
• A 471 km line from the Linxian area of the Ordos CBM basin south to Linhe completed in 2012,
which will be extended to the northwest in order to accept gas from the third Shaanxi-Bejing
pipeline.
• A one billion cubic meter per year, 50 km transprovincial pipeline from Qinshui to Bo'ai in Henan
Province, completed in late 2010.
Shanxi political leaders anticipate that CBM could amount to as much as 75 percent of Taiyuan's five
billion cubic meters of planned natural gas consumption in 2015.
Producers, consumers, and middlemen have also undertaken three small LNG facilities to transport
Qinshui CBM to more distant markets by tanker truck, including:
• A 40 million cubic meter plant owned by the national gas distribution Xin'ao, completed in 2009.
• Two plants totaling 300 million cubic meters per year owned jointly by the Jincheng Coal Mining
Group and Hong Kong Gas, Phase I completedin 2009, and Phase II under construction in 2012.
• A 330 million plant owned by the Shanxi Energy Industry Group, a coal and gas transport
company.
The Twelfth Five-year Plan for CBM and CMM calls for CMM to be used primarily as a local fuel, with the
number of residential users to approximately double to about 3.3 million households between 2010 and
2015, and power generation capacity to quadruple to 2850 MW as overall CMM utilization rises by
about 5.5 billion cubic meters.
It will be necessary to improve CMM extraction practices to raise the average methane content of the
CMM given the difficulties and expense of utilizing low-concentration methane. Of the approximately
7.5 billion cubic meters of CMM extracted in 2010, a significant majority was less than 30 percent
concentration.
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A series of regulations put forward by the NEA and the China Ministry of Environmental Protection
(MEP) attempt to deal with the problem. But at least through mid-2012, there was anecdotal evidence
that an MEP-issued regulation in 2008 requiring operators of CMM drainage systems with greater than
30 percent methane concentration to use or flare the gas was creating a perverse incentive in some
areas to maintain gas concentrations below 30 percent, ignoring best practices and safety standards.
The focus on local consumption of CMM poses additional challenges, as many of the coal mines
recovering CMM have exhausted the possibilities for burning the CMM to generate power for their own
use, or supplying CMM to customers in the immediate vicinity of the mines. Only a few local
governments such as Jincheng, a municipality of approximately two million people in the Qinshui basin
area, have mobilized to invest in region-wide CMM distribution infrastructure.
Jincheng has advantages that other localities do not necessarily share, including the ability to mix higher
methane-content CBM with its CMM, and a supportive provincial government, which has granted CMM
producers an additional 0.3 CNY per cubic meter rebate for CMM sales for civil and industrial use on top
of the 0.2 CNY offered by the national government. Despite the booming demand for natural gas,
municipalities such as Chongqing have not found it cost-effective to construct the medium-distance
pipelines necessary to transport unprocessed CMM from large producers such as Songzao into the city
proper in view of the gathering, pipeline investment, and processing costs.
The government's Twelfth Five-year Plan for CBM and CMM addresses the barriers to the further
popularization of CMM in general terms, acknowledging the unfavorable economics of many CMM
utilization projects, the difficulties winning power grid company acceptance of the existing regulations
requiring them to accept CMM-generated power at premium prices, and the need for stronger
government incentives to promote CMM utilization. Follow-through on removal of these barriers will be
key to enforcement of the power dispatch and CMM pricing policies and achieve the power generation
targets.
As with CBM, the purification and liquefaction of CMM offers a potential solution to the market barrier
problems. Technologies to remove impurities of CMM at low temperature have been proven outside of
China, and are under development in China itself; no extra step is required to liquefy once purification
has taken place.
While it would most likely not be economic to sell the product to the petroleum pipeline companies
given the domestic gas pipeline transmission pricing structure, transportation by tanker truck would
allow the CMM plants to sell directly to near or distant distribution companies. They would have the
freedom to seek markets in the relatively wealthy southern coastal areas, which depend almost
exclusively on imported gas with which CMM is likely to be more cost competitive (3-3.5 CNY per cubic
meter delivered to citygate), and which have shown a willingness to absorb higher prices.
Given the modest size of the plants and the variability of CMM flows, they would likely sell primarily into
the spot or peaking markets. If liquefied CMM accounted for only a small proportion of supply in a
particular region, even distribution companies in less wealthy areas might also be able to absorb its
higher cost relative to domestic pipeline gas.
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Liquefied CMM would also likely be cost-competitive with methane from coal to natural gas plants
transported by pipeline, which the government is considering as part of the Twelfth Five-year Plan for
natural gas.
Large-scale development of shale gas, on the other hand, could lower the cost structure of the national
gas industry as it has in the United States, working against the interests of CMM producers. Given the
time that will be required to develop shale gas expertise, this is likely to be a long-term rather than a
medium-term issue. In general, the economics of purified and liquefied CMM should be attractive under
conditions where overall supply continues to be tight, and imported gas is a significant component of
the overall natural gas sales base.
While many coal mining companies have considered the LNG option for utilization of their CMM, most
have hesitated to move ahead in view of the high up-front cost relative to other options such as small
distributed power plants, and the lack of reference CMM LNG units in China. As of mid-2012, only small
demonstration facilities constructed by Chinese purification technology developers were in operation.
The Twelfth Five-year Plan listed calls for development of CMM purification/LNG plants to an
appropriate degree. The first industrial-scale facility, a 100 million cubic meters per year plant (100
percent methane basis, with as-is CMM at approximately 40 percent) developed by the Chongqing
Energy Investment Group's Songzao Coal and Electricity Corporation was under construction, due in
operation in 2013. The success of this flagship project would encourage the development of a number of
additional facilities in coal mining areas that produced a sufficiently high volume of medium-
concentration CMM.
5.1.5.2 CBM/CMM Development Through 2014
Spurred by the favorable experience of the United States with CBM, the Chinese government launched a
joint CBM exploitation program with foreign companies in the 1990s, with modest results (Table 61).
CBM production on an appreciable scale only began from about 2005, with 2010 output rising to 1.5
billion cubic meters, primarily from Chinese coal companies evacuating the CBM in advance of mining,
and from Chinese petroleum companies rather than from Chinese-foreign joint ventures. The Ministry
of Land Resources announced in January 2014 that 2013 production was 3 billion cubic meters
(Andrews-Speed and Len, 2014). While goals set by the 12th Five year plan were to increase annual
production of CBM up to 16 billion cubic meters by 2015 (EIA , 2104) production was up by 9% year-on-
year for the first three quarters in 2014 and reached 12.6 billion cubic meters (World Coal, 2014). CBM
from non-mine related drilling and production was 2.7 billion cubic meters while 9.9 billion was
extracted from coal mines (World Coal, 2014). Almost all of the development has taken place in the
major coal basins with the most favorable natural conditions: the Qinshui basin in Southeast Shanxi
Province, a major coal producing area, and the Hedong/Ordos basin in the border region of western
Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia. Through 2010, CBM was used either as a household or industrial
fuel in the vicinity of these major basins. Until approximately 2010/2011, gas was only consumed locally
as a household or industrial fuel.
TABLE 61: CBM/CMM RECOVERY AND UTILIZATION IN CHINA (BILLION CUBIC METERS)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
CMM from Coal Mines (excluding VAM)
-- Recovery
6,450
7,500
9,200
11,400
12,600
13,120
135
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2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
- Utilization
1,930
2,300
3,500
3,500
4,250
4,360
CBM from Surface Wells
-- Recovery
1,010
1,500
NA
NA
NA
NA
- Utilization
580
1,200
NA
NA
NA
NA
Total CMM and CBM
-- Recovery
7,460
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
- Utilization
2,420
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Source: Huang (2014), NDRC (2010.2), NEA (2011)
The implementation of the CDM platform for carbon credit revenue stimulated increased interest in the
utilization of CMM. Soon afterwards, the Chinese central government promulgated its own incentives
for CBM and CMM producers, including a 0.20 CNY per cubic meter payment for CMM consumed as a
household or industrial fuel, and an approximately 50 percent price premium over coal for power sold to
the public grid. The grid companies were directed to provide favorable dispatch to the CMM generators
(MOF, 2007; NDRC, 2007.4). As of late 2014, nine projects have been registered and are undergoing
validation for registration in a voluntary emissions reduction program created in 2012 by the NDRC. This
program was created by NDRC promulgating Temporary Rules for Voluntary Green House Gas Emissions
Reduction Trading Management in June 2012. (Huang, 2014)
As of September of 2014, 92 CMM projects have been prepared for the CDM and approved by the
central government; of those, 58 projects have been registered with the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Certified emission reductions (CER) have been issued from 30
of these projects (Huang, 2014). Coal mining companies installed a reported aggregate 750 MW of
distributed power plants to burn CMM (including the 120 MW plant at the Jincheng Coal Mining
Company in the Qinshui Basin, the world's largest CMM power plant), and the number of CMM
household and industrial customers rose to 1.89 million (NEA, 2011). CMM utilization lagged far behind
extraction given the limitations of local utilization infrastructure, and the failure of CMM to penetrate
the larger natural gas market (Table 61). The incentive program for CMM power plant utilization proved
particularly difficult to implement due to resistance from power grid companies. The companies were
uneager to manage the complexities of dispatching the fluctuating output of small plants, and lacked a
policy mechanism to pass the premiums through to consumers.
In September of 2013, the State Council published a guideline for further acceleration of CBM/CMM
exploitation and utilization (Huang, 2014). This guideline aims to:
• Increase funding to support development;
• Increase indirect economic and financial incentives;
• Encourage investment from the private sector;
• Develop a market driven pricing mechanism; and
• Further encourage the use of CMM for fuel in power production.
According to an NDRC press release in August 2014, China is poised to take the experience that it has
gained with its pilot carbon trading markets located in seven key cities and launch a national trading
market. The NDRC has developed national market regulations and has submitted them to the State
Council for approval with an opening of the national market sometime in 2016 (Reuter, 2014), and will
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be situated among several other Asia countries that are in various stages of developing carbon markets.
Kazakhstan and South Korea have active markets, while Indonesia, Thailand and Viet Nam are in the
planning stages.
The end of 2014 marked the first year of carbon trading in regional markets, and as of January, 2015 a
national emission offset registry was opened and the Chinese Certified Emissions Reductions (CCERs)
issued from this registry will be tradable among the seven regional markets. This comes as a relief to
buyers and sellers who want to trade offsets from one region to another. The price of emissions
reductions vary widely from one regional market to another. As an example, a firm can buy emissions
reductions for 20 CNY in Guangdong, but the same permit would cost 53 CNY in Beijing. Until there is a
unified market in 2016, regional carbon market regulators can exclude any offset type if they determine
that the CCERs will not benefit their local market. The unified market will harmonize rules among the
seven pilot programs and allow trading countrywide. CCERs are awarded to low carbon projects
approved by the NDRC. Presently, they are cheaper than the offsets, which are available in the regional
markets and can only be used to cover 5 to 10 percent of the firm's carbon emissions. Spot deliveries of
CCERs offered to the Beijing market range from 25 to 30 CNY; however, forward contracts can be
purchased for less, in the range of 5 to 20 CNY (Reuters, 2015).
5.1.6 Unconventional Gas: Coal to Gas
In an economy in which natural gas shortages have been projected into the indefinite future and
imports account for an increasing market share, the development of coal-to-gas (CTG) technology has
attracted interest from coal development companies such as Shenhua, governments of regions with
major untapped coal reserves such as Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, and some gas users and financial
investors. Even Sinopec, the smaller of the two major land-based conventional natural gas producers, is
reported to be considering the construction of pipelines to transport the output of CTG plants from
Xinjiang to the east.
A total of 30-40 projects with aggregate capacity approaching 100 billion cubic meters per year have
been proposed. The draft Twelfth Five-year Plan for natural gas submitted by the NEA to the central
government for consideration in May 2012 called for annual production of methane from coal to reach
30 billion cubic meters by 2015 (NEA, 2012.1). As of mid-2012, NDRC had only approved four
demonstration projects with aggregate capacity of 17.5 billion cubic meter capacity (Table 62). The
projects are the first reference units for the Chinese technology and equipment suppliers, and their
completion has been delayed 2-3 years beyond initial expectations.
TABLE 62: CHINA COAL-TO-GAS PLANTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 2012
Plant and Location
Owner
Capacity (m3)
Projected
Completion
Date
End-use
Chifeng,
Northeast Inner
Mongolia
Datang Power
Company and
Beijing Natural
Gas Company
4 billion
(3 trains, each 1.3-
1.4 billion)
2012-2014
Sent to Beijing and
environs through
newly constructed
pipeline
Fuxin, Liaoning
Province
Datang Power
Company
4 billion
(3 trains of 1.3-1.4
billion)
2012-2014
Shenyang and other
Liaoning cities
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Plant and Location
Owner
Capacity (m3)
Projected
Completion
Date
End-use
Ordos, Inner
Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Huineng Energy
Company
2 billion
2013
Power plant fuel,
liquefaction long-
distance shipment
Yili, Xinjiang
Autonomous
Region
Inner Mongolia
Guoqing Energy
Company
5 billion
(4 trains 1.2-1.3
billion)
2012-2015
Injection into CNPC
West-to-East
pipelines)
Source: Inner Mongolia Television (2012)
NDRC has on several occasions expressed caution about proceeding quickly pending the formulation of a
national CTG development strategy based on full evaluation of technical, economic and environmental
issues such as energy conversion efficiency, water resource management, etc. In November of 2011, the
NDRC issued "Regulations on Orderly Development of the Coal Chemical Industry" which, among other
restrictions, banned the consideration of CTG projects with capacity less than 2 million tonnes per year
(NDRC, 2011.4).
As with CBM and CMM, the economic viability of CTG projects will depend on how tight the natural gas
market remains both domestically and internationally, and the degree to which the market remains
import dependent. One estimate puts production costs at 1.05-2.1 CNY per cubic meter; with estimates
of the selling price for the Xinjiang project specifically in the vicinity of 2.9 CNY per cubic meter (Sina
News Center, 2012).
As with CBM and CMM, gas distribution utilities may be able to absorb the gas produced from coal more
easily when it accounts for only a relatively minor portion of supply. The Chinese energy industry has
begun intensive efforts to develop China's considerable shale gas potential in recognition of the
breakthroughs in drilling and fracturing technology that has led to the rapid expansion of natural gas
production and precipitous natural gas price drop in the United States. A Twelfth Five-year Plan for
shale gas put forward by the NEA calls for a thorough nationwide survey and exploration program to
identify 50-80 target production areas throughout the country by 2015, with shale gas production
reaching 6.5 billion cubic meters in 2015, and expanding dramatically to 60-100 billion cubic meters by
2020 (NEA, 2012.1).
As of mid-2012, CNPC and Sinopec had already drilled dozens of exploratory wells in Southern Sichuan
and Northern Yunnan Provinces, Eastern Guizhou Province, and Southern Anhui. CNPC had begun small-
scale production in Sichuan, and in May of 2012 signed a production sharing contract with Shell to
develop the province's Fushun field.
Sinopec launched its own initial production several months later in the Fuling area of Chongqing,
expressing the hope to produce 300-500 million cubic meters in 2011 and one billion in 2012. It was also
conducting risk evaluation of structures explored jointly with BP and Chevron in Guizhou.
The central government has made clear that it wants to follow the U.S. model by offering exploration
and development rights to a broad range of companies beyond the Chinese state-owned upstream oil
and gas companies and the major international oil and gas producers. In addition to CNPC and Sinopec,
winners of the first auction for development rights in Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou and Hunan in 2011
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included the China United CBM and the Henan CBM Development companies, as well as the Shaanxi
Province owned Yanchang Petroleum Company. Bidders for the second round in October 2012 which
included areas in Hubei, Anhui, Henan and Zhejiang Provinces, in addition to those in the Upper Yangtze
Valley, appeared likely to include some privately owned energy companies (Ministry of Land Resources
2011, 2012).
As with other nonconventional gas resources such as CBM and CMM, the NEA's Twelfth Five-year Plan
for shale gas calls for the sales price to be set by the market rather than by the government. It also
recommends extending to shale gas some of the incentives enjoyed by CBM and CMM producers, such
as the 0.2 CNY per cubic meter production subsidy, sales tax rebates, and duty exemption for imported
equipment. Some foreign investors question whether the 2015 production target is achievable, in view
of the lack of experience and expertise with horizontal drilling and fracturing. At any rate, with the
government's desire to develop shale gas, CBM and CMM producers may have positive and negative
implications of increased shale gas production to consider. A boom in shale gas development may lead
to development of gas processing facilities and pipelines as well as an expanded natural gas market
which may benefit CMM; however, an increase in gas supply from shale may drive gas prices down,
making unconventional gas resources less economically desirable.
5.2 Anhui
5.2.1 Pipeline Network and Consumption Volumes
Anhui Province has no known gas deposits. It began to use natural gas in limited quantities with the
completion in 2004 of CNPC's first West-to-East pipeline, which passes through the northern part of the
province in a Northwest to Southeast direction en route from Zhengzhou to Nanjing through Lixin
County, Dingyuan County, Bengbu City and Chuzhou City.
The CNPC concurrently built branch pipelines from the Dingyuan County transfer station to the
provincial capital in Hefei, and from Nanjing southwest along the southern bank of the Yangtze River
through the major steel center of Maanshan to Wuhu City. The Anhui Provincial gas company added a
series of smaller branch pipelines from transfer stations on the main line to Fuyang, Huainan, Suzhou,
and Huaibei cities, and extended the Wuhu branch further along the Yangtze to Tongling.
Through 2008, the above-mentioned facilities accounted for the entirety of provincial consumption
shown in Table 63 below. The rapid jump in 2009 and 2010 usage represented not only shipments
through the West-to-East pipeline, but also the commissioning of the 12 million ton per year Sinopec
Sichuan-Shanghai pipeline which runs across southern Anhui from Anqing in the west to Xuancheng in
the east near the Zhejiang border.
TABLE 63: ANHUI NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION, 2007-2012 (MILLION CUBIC METERS)
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Consumption
403
717
977
1,254
2,014
2,490
Source: CESY, 2013 p. 96
A branch from Xuancheng to Nanjing passes through some of the same Yangtze River cities as the
Nanjing-Wuhu branch of CNPC's West-to-East pipeline. The so-called "North of the River Connector
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Line" with approximately 500 million cubic meter capacity is being built north from Anqing to Hefei,
where it will link in 2011-2012 to the CNPC branch line, thus creating the beginnings of an integrated
network in the province.
5.2.2 Consumption Patterns
Hefei accounted for somewhat over 200 million cubic meters, or about 14 percent of total provincial
consumption in 2010. It is unlikely that any other single locality consumed as much as Hefei given
constraints on supply and branch pipeline capacity (Anhui News, 2011.1).
Sectorally, industry accounted for the largest share of natural gas use in 2012 (Figure 33), but not by as
wide a margin as is typical in the rest of the country. Limitations in supply and supporting infrastructure
could be a reason for this. The amount used in transportation, which rose from almost nothing in 2007
to over 10 percent of the total in 2009, reflects the rapid popularization of compressed natural gas
(CNG) as an inexpensive automotive fuel. The NDRC is demanding that all local authorities in China raise
CNG prices to a minimum of 75 percent of gasoline prices in order to discourage overconsumption of
natural gas in motor vehicles.
FIGURE 33: ANHUI CONSUMPTION OF NATURAL GAS BY SECTOR, 2012
Source: CESY (2013) p. 203
5.2.3 Future Trends
Gas supply will be the principal constraint on future consumption growth in Anhui. It is reported that the
central government has only allocated 800 million out of the 12 billion cubic meter throughput of the
Sichuan- Shanghai pipeline to Anhui, and it is unlikely that the figure is much higher than 1.5 billion cubic
meters for the first West-to-East pipeline, which suggests a ceiling of perhaps 2.5 billion cubic meters
until additional gas sources are developed (China Securities Journal, 2010).
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Anhui is not an important destination for Central Asian gas transmitted through the CNPC's Second
West-to-East pipeline starting from 2010. One branch of the pipeline passes through Dangshan County
in the northernmost sliver of the province, but no infrastructure is being built to get large volumes of
Central Asian gas to major potential consumption centers (Anhui News, 2008). The main positive impact
of the new pipeline for Anhui will be to put more gas in the increasingly integrated national pipeline
network, possibly freeing up some gas from other sources for Anhui.
5.2.4 Pricing
The wholesale pricing for the West-to-East pipeline and Sichual to East pipeline are shown below in
Table 64.
TABLE 64: WHOLESALE PRICING TO THE MAIN CNPC/SINOPEC TRANSFER STATIONS IN ANHUI
(CNY/CUBIC METER)
Wellhead
Pipeline shipment Total
CNPC Xinjiang gas, first West-to-East Pipeline
-Residential Use
0.79
0.75
1.54
-Industrial Use
1.19-1.215
0.75
1.965
Sinopec Sichuan gas, "Sichuan to
East Pipeline" (all uses)
1.51
0.65
2.16
Source: NDRC 2003; NDRC 2009.1; NDRC 2010.2
5.2.5 CMM Market and End-Use Options
SDIC-Xinji Energy has evaluated the villages close to the Liuzhuang mine but does not consider any to be
viable end-users for CMM produced at the mine. Currently, these villages utilize either agricultural
waste (straw) or waste coal for heating. The coal also tends to be low-quality coal supplies that are
mined locally but not considered viable for transport outside the Liuzhuang area due to poor quality.
This waste coal is abundant and quite inexpensive. Liuzhuang CMM would need to be sold at an
extremely low price to displace this waste coal, certainly much lower than its alternative value for more
profitable utilization approaches, such as power generation.
According to the Huainan government, Huainan Municipality as a whole consumes 120,000 cubic meters
of natural gas per day, or approximately 44 million cubic meters per year. Only 180,000 of the city's over
one million urban residents are connected to gas (one third of these 180,000 burn coal mine methane),
and there are only 6 industrial enterprises burning natural gas, so there is obviously potential for wider
use (HMFA, 2011).
Given the limits of the small 17.4 km pipeline connecting CNPC's West-to-East trunkline with Huainan,
this suggests that there should in principle be demand for SDIC-Xinji's gas in Huainan generally, beyond
the immediate mining area. The mine's ability to either connect to the Huainan local gas distribution
network or to sell LNG to an unloading terminal will depend on the local gas company's logistical ability
to construct the necessary infrastructure, which cannot be taken for granted in view of the fact that the
utility is losing money.
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Considering the limitations in natural gas supply to Anhui as a whole, there should certainly be demand
for Huainan's purified CMM in other cities in Anhui, if not in Huainan. The mine's capability to sell,
however, will undoubtedly depend on the price it charges.
As noted above in Table 64, the wholesale prices charged by the local gas distribution companies to
CNPC and Sinopec range from 1.54 CNY per cubic meter for Xinjiang gas used as residential fuel (as in
Huainan) to 1.965 CNY per cubic meter for Xinjiang gas used for industry to 2.16 CNY per cubic meter for
Sinopec Sichuan gas for all usages (inclusive of tax).
Unless the shortages of gas in Anhui become so acute that local governments become willing to pay
higher market prices, 2.16 CNY per cubic meter per the Sinopec Sichuan gas wholesale cost is a
reasonable reference price for Huainan gas in the Anhui market. Despite the high transport costs, Anhui
coal mines might be able to earn a higher return by sending LNG to markets in areas such as Guangdong
in southern China where local wholesale prices are 3 CNY per cubic meter or higher.
5.3 Chongqing
Chongqing has one of the oldest and best-developed natural gas distribution infrastructures in China
due to its proximity to the Sichuan gas fields. Its total natural gas consumption grew at about 8.5
percent per year to an estimated 5.8 billion cubic meters from 2005-2011, putting it in the top four
provincial-level consumers on a per capita basis. The sectoral breakdown of consumption is comparable
to the rest of China, with industry accounting for about three quarters of the total, and
residential/commercial for about 20-25 percent (Table 65).
The use of CNG for the automotive sector, which has a 40 year history, is higher than in other regions in
China. Virtually all buses and taxis in the core urban areas run on CNG.
TABLE 65: CHONGQING GAS CONSUMPTION (MILLION CUBIC METERS)
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Chongqing Gas
Group
860
965
1250
1482
1700
1724
1869
1970
- Industrial
168
207
296
346
406
543
618
668
- Residential
236
262
341
371
421
564
586
656
- Commercial
37
51
78
100
131
170
201
221
- Automotive
CNG
101
142
174
240
245
356
360
340
-Collective" (public)
NA
NA
NA
45
NA
90
98
85
Direct Purchase by
Industry/ Other
Distribution
Companies
2174
2585
NA
3018
3175
3223
3494
(est.)
3600
(est.)
Total
3034
3550
4005
4353
4875
4947
5363
(est.)
5600
(est)
Source: CESY (2010), p. 90; Chongqing Gas Group, Chongqing Energy Investment Company; Chongqing Gas Group Prospectus
(2012)
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The Chongqing Gas Group, a subsidiary of CQEIG, has the franchise for gas distribution in the core
Chongqing metropolitan area, as well as in a number of the outlying counties and cities, and has
accounted for approximately one third of Chongqing's gas sales. Most of the remainder is purchased
directly from the upstream suppliers by large industrial enterprises, with the rest going to smaller
distribution companies in some of the outlying areas (including companies owned by CNPC itself).
Supply has been the most important constraint to more rapid growth in consumption. The municipal
government estimates that Chongqing could absorb 15 billion cubic meters by 2015, two and one half
times 2011 usage, as urbanization continues and industry expands.
The Chongqing Gas group distribution utility more conservatively projects that by 2015 its gas supply will
rise by 70 percent compared to 2010 levels based on:
• Doubling of the gas delivery capacity of Chongqing's traditional gas supplier, CNPC Southwest Oil
and Gas field Company, through development of the new Luozjiazhai and Longgang gas fields in
Chongqing.
• Completion of a new pipeline from Zhongwei in Ningxia that would allow Central Asian gas to be
routed from the Second East West trunk pipeline to Chongqing.
• Completion of the pipeline from Burma through Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces to Chongqing.
• Supply of 2 billion cubic meters or more of gas from Sinopec's new Puguang field in Sichuan just
outside Chongqing, which made initial deliveries in 2010.
Over the longer term, Chongqing is considered a promising source of shale gas. But neither the central
government nor consumers anticipate that non-conventional gas will be a significant contributor to
supply by 2015 (Chongqing Gas Company Prospectus, 2012).
5.3.1 Pricing and CMM Potential
State-fixed wellhead prices for gas from the Sichuan gas fields to Chongqing were as follows in mid-2012
(Table 66).
TABLE 66: SICHUAN GAS FIELD WELLHEAD PRICES, AUGUST 2012 (CNY/M3)
End Use Category
Benchmark Price
Maximum Price (Benchmark
plus 5%)
Chemical Fertilizer
0.92
0.966
Direct sale to industry (other than
fertilizer) by pipeline company
1.505
1.58
Sale to industry by gas distribution
company
1.55
1.6275
Other sales by gas distribution company
1.15
1.2075
Source: NDRC (2010.2)
Because of its proximity to the Sichuan gas source, Chongqing only pays about 0.12-0.13 CNY per m3for
pipeline transmission to the citygate. Average citygate prices for the Chongqing Gas distribution utility
were slightly more than 1.3 CNY per cubic meter in 2011.
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Due to low citygate prices, as well as the municipality's long history of gas use, the Chongqing Municipal
government has fixed retail sales prices of the distribution companies at levels among the lowest in
China (Table 67).
TABLE 67: REGULATED NATURAL GAS RETAIL PRICES FOR GAS DISTRIBUTION UTILITIES, CHONGQING
MUNICIPALITY, AUGUST 2012
End-use Category
Price: (CNY/cubic meter)
Industrial user:
2.24
Residential:
1.72
Commercial:
2.29
Sales to CNG manufacturer:
1.746
Municipal lighting and other infrastructure
2.29
Source: Chongqing Price Bureau (2010.1), Chongqing Evening News (2010)
From a supply-demand point of view, there is no doubt that purified CMM is welcome in Chongqing.
Furthermore, the Municipality's coal mining companies, led by the Songzao Coal and Electricity
Company under Chongqing Energy Investment Group, have recovered significant volumes of methane
for many years for mine area civil use. The Chongqing Gas Group for a number of years has purchased
about 50 million tonnes per year of pipeline quality CMM from the Chongqing Energy Investment
Group's Zhongliangshan Coal mine located near the municipal center. As of mid-2012, Songzao was
constructing a 100 million cubic meter (100 percent methane basis) CMM purification and liquefaction
plant.
Chongqing's low prevailing gas wholesale and retail prices pose economic challenges for purification
facilities such as Songzao's. The Zhongliangshan methane purchases do not really provide a precedent,
as the Chongqing Gas Company has only paid about 0.5 CNY per cubic meter for what is essentially
treated as a coal mining byproduct; the transaction, furthermore, is less than arm's length given the
common ownership of both the mine and the gas distribution utility.
It is not clear in the construction phase how these marketing/pricing issues will be resolved for the
Songzao facility. Possibilities include:
• Applying a low or even zero transfer price from mine to purification plant for the extracted
CMM, which is administratively feasible given the common ownership of Songzao and
Chongqing gas.
• The gas distribution company absorbing all or a portion of potential losses until Chongqing
conventional gas wholesale prices rise to a level that makes purified and liquefied CMM cost
competitive. The Chongqing Gas Group could accept such an arrangement in view of gas
shortages and the relatively modest volumes involved the shortage of natural gas in
Chongqing.
• Transporting the LNG to areas such as Guangdong in which prevailing wholesale and retail
prices are significantly higher until gas prices rise in Chongqing.
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5.4 Henan Province
5.4.1 Regional Natural Gas Demand
5.4.1.1 Consumption and Demand
Despite the striking increase in the volume of Henan's natural gas consumption to 7.4 billion cubic
meters in 2012, natural gas accounted for no more than 3-4 percent of primary energy supply in Henan
(Table 68). As is the case throughout China, supply is constraining consumption, and will likely continue
to do so for the rest of the decade, barring breakthroughs in supply of shale gas, evident as of 2014. A
ten-year development plan by the Henan Provincial Reform and Development Commission projected
that, were adequate supply available, demand in Henan would be at least 16 billion cubic meters in
2015, more than twice the level of consumption in 2012, and to approximately 29 billion cubic meters in
2020.
TABLE 68: HENAN NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION, 2008-2012 (MILLION CUBIC METERS)
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Production
1,122
2,958
672
500
500
Consumption
3,823
4,150
4,721
5,496
7,392
Source: CESY 2013,, pp. 43, 96
As shown in Table 69 and Figure 34, industrial and residential consumption of gas both rose
substantially between 2009 and 2012. These trends will continue for the foreseeable future, given the
enormous unmet potential for fuel switching in industry and the desire of urban residents for clean fuel.
Even with the growth of recent years, it is doubtful that more than about 55 percent of Henan's urban
residents are connected to natural gas.
The slow growth of natural gas consumption in power plants will likely also continue through the
decade, or at least as long as gas is priced higher than coal; on a heating value basis; natural gas is about
3.5-4.5 times higher than coal in Henan (pricing section below), and the NDRC discourages rapid
inflation of electricity prices. Unlike the coastal regions, inland provinces such as Henan do not appear to
be at the tipping point where the combination of environmental pressures and wealth begin to influence
decisions to build new coal fired power plants.
The NDRC is, however, encouraging the construction of a series of natural gas "distributed energy
centers" which provide a combination of central heating, air conditioning and power to large industrial
and commercial enterprises, and is formulating regulations that will require the power grid company to
purchase the excess power that they generate. The electronics assembly giant Foxconn completed
Henan's first such center together with the power generator Huadian in 2013, which includes two 33
MW gas turbines (China Thermal Power Web, 2011).
TABLE 69: HENAN COMPOSITION OF NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION,2009-20012 (MILLION CUBIC METERS)
2009
2010
2012
Industry
2,893
2,532
4,940
Electric Power
769
1,376
1,001
Residential
389
609
1,010
Other
104
NA
NA
Total
4,155
4,715
7,361
Source: CESY 2013, p. 227;CESY 2012, p. 223; CESY 2010, p. 185
145
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Power
Generation
FIGURE 34: HENAN COMPOSITION OF NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION BY SECTOR, 2012
Source: CESY 2013, p. 227
5.4.1.2 Present and Future Supply
Henan's indigenous natural gas producers consist of the following:
• The declining Zhongyuan gas field located in Puyang in the northern part of the province near
Hebi, which launched gas usage in Henan in the 1980s, but now produces only 500 million cubic
meters per year (HSB, 2014).
• A 220 million cubic meter per year coal to natural gas plant operated by the Yima Coal Group
(Henan Provincial Government Web, 2013)
• CMM producers which emit 1-2 billion cubic meters per year of methane in varying
concentrations, of which perhaps 10 percent was recovered and burned in small power CMM
power plants or in the local communities in 2013.
Thus, close to the entirety of provincial supply comes from the following sources outside the province:
• Approximately 3 billion cubic meters per year from the Xinjiang gas fields through CNPC's first
West-to-East pipeline from Xinjiang to Shanghai (approximately 20 percent of the pipeline's
throughput).
• Approximately 3 billion cubic meters of Turkmenistan gas through the CNPC's second West-to-
East pipeline from Xinjiang to Guangzhou. By 2015, volumes consumed in Henan could reach 5
billion cubic meters per year under agreement between the CNPC and Henan.
• About lbillion cubic meters from Sinopec's Shaanxi/Ordos basin transmitted via branch pipeline
from Sinopec's 3 billion cubic meter Yulin-Shandong pipeline.
• Approximately 500 million from neighboring Shanxi province's Qinbei CBM fields transmitted by
pipeline to Bo'ai. Volumes could increase to one billion cubic meters by 2015 (Henan DRC 2011,
press reports).
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Combined, these sources will provide a maximum of 10 billion cubic meters to Henan 2015 and beyond,
well short of what the province could consume. It appears furthermore that only limited volumes of gas
from new sources will reach Henan for some years afterwards. According to a 10-year natural gas
development plan issued by the Henan Development and Reform Commission in 2011, less than 1 billion
of the 30 billion cubic meters from the CNPC's third West-to-East pipeline from central Asia and Xinjiang
scheduled to be completed in 2015-2016 were reported to be allocated to Henan. Even if the province
succeeds in negotiating a higher allocation, the volumes are unlikely to be comparable to those from the
first and second West-to-East pipelines (Henan DRC, 2011; Dahe Daily, 2013).
A series of coal-to-natural gas projects being constructed in the East Junggar area of Xinjiang are
planned for completion around 2017-2018 will provide Henan 30 billion cubic meters of new pipeline
gasHenan . The Henan Energy and Chemical Group (Hebi Mining Group's parent) is building one of
these plants, with 2 billion cubic meters due onstream 2017, and an additional two billion several years
later. Henan can expect to be allocated 10-15 percent of the pipeline's throughput. Based on
preliminary discussions with CNPC it might get access to an additional 3 billion cubic meters from a
fourth West-to-East pipeline to import yet more Central Asian gas that might be completed towards the
end of the decade (Henan, DRC 2011; JCoal, 2014).
In short, barring an unlikely discovery of a major new conventional gas deposit or a quick breakthrough
in China's shale gas development efforts, which makes major volumes of domestic gas available to
Henan, natural gas supply will fall short of demand in Henan for the foreseeable future. From a supply
and demand perspective, the province should be able to absorb all pipeline quality CMM that becomes
available.
5.4.1.3 Provincial pipeline infrastructure
The introduction of gas from Xinjiang, Central Asia and Shaanxi/lnner Mongolia through long distance
trunk pipelines has spurred development of a rudimentary pipeline distribution network connecting the
consumption centers in Henan. The largest of these are listed below in Table 70.
TABLE 70: MAJOR PROVINCIAL PIPELINES IN HENAN
Capacity (billion
m3/year)
Owner
Main Gas Source
North to South
Zhengzhou-Zhumadian
Zhumadian-Xinyang
1.0
0.4
Henan Lantian Group
CNPC 1st West-to-East
pipeline
Bo'ai-Anyang
0.7
Henan Ancai Group
CNPC 1st West-to-East
pipeline
Luoyang-Bo'ai-Anyang
1.5
Henan Zongheng Gas
Group
Sinopec Shaanxi-
Shandong pipeline
Huaiyang-Wuhan
(Hubei Province)
1.0
CNPC
A connector pipeline
between Sichuan-
Wuhan and 1st West-to-
East trunk line
West-to-East
Pingdingshan-Xuchang
-Zhengzhou-Tai'an
10 (estimated 3 billion
consumed in Henan)
CNPC
CNPC 2nd West-to-East
pipeline. This pipeline
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Capacity (billion
m3/year)
Owner
Main Gas Source
(Shandong)
can interconnect with
the 1st West-to-East
trunkline in Zhengzhou
Pingdingshan-Luohe
2.0
Henan Huiji Energy
Company
CNPC 2nd West-to-East
pipeline. Can connect
to Zhengzhou-
Zhumadian line
Pingdingshan-
Zhumadian
2.0
Henan Lantian Group
CNPC 2nd West-to-East
pipeline
Sources: Henan DRC 2011
Numerous smaller lines branch off from these lines or from the CNPC/Sinopec trunklines to various
consumption centers. The western and southwestern cities in the province are served primarily by the
second West-to-East pipeline, the central-southern part of the province by the Zhengzhou-Zhumadian
line, and the north-central and eastern parts of the province by the Pingdingshan-Zhengzhou-Tai'an,
line, and the various lines from CNPC's first West-to-East line.
The Bo'ai-Anyang and the Luoyang-Bo'ai-Anyang lines pass through Hebi in the far north. Total
allocation to Hebi from these two lines is in the 100-200 million cubic meters range. A purified CMM
producer would have the option of injecting product into the pipelines as well as into the Hebi municipal
network.
5.4.1.4 Natural Gas Pricing in Henan
Starting from July 2013, the NDRC implemented a major change in the natural gas wholesale pricing
system which significantly increased the delivered price of conventional pipeline gas to Henan. Under
this reform, delivered prices are no longer calculated based on varying wellhead costs from the different
oilfields (or import costs for LNG and pipeline gas) plus pipeline transmission fee. Rather, the NDRC
publishes citygate wholesale prices applicable in each province, regardless of well field of origin for gas
emerging from transfer stations on the trunk pipelines owned by the natural gas majors CNPC and
Sinopec (NDRC, 2013.4).
The NDRC established differential pricing by defining old gas, as consumption volumes less than or equal
to those of 2012, and new gas defined as incremental consumption in excess of 2012 levels. With the
exception of residential consumption and consumption by chemical fertilizer factories, the system of
differential pricing according to end-use was abolished.
Under the regulations, the NDRC fixed the price of new gas in Henan and other provinces at 85 percent
of the 2012 price bracket for substitutable fuels, consisting of 60 percent fuel oil and 40 percent LPG.
Trial citygate pricing regulations promoted in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces prior to the 2013
national scale implementation, the NDRC suggested that it might change the new gas prices annually
according to changing prices of the fuel oil/LPG basket. The new gas prices are technically called
guidance prices, meaning the maximum allowable, with the pipeline companies free to sell at lower
prices. In practice, given short supply of natural gas in China, the guidance prices are likely to be the
actual prices for new gas.
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Old gas prices were raised substantially, relative to the pre-July 2013 levels, but are still significantly
discounted relative to new gas prices (Table 71). The NDRC indicated its intent to gradually raise old gas
prices to new gas levels by the end of 2015.
Although not mentioned explicitly by the NDRC, enabling CNPC and Sinopec to recoup the higher costs
of imported natural gas (both LNG and pipeline) relative to domestic conventional gas was a major
consideration behind the change in pricing formula; prior to 2013, the CNPC had been forced to sell
imported pipeline gas at domestic gas price levels, accumulating significant losses as a result. The two-
tiered old gas/new gas system is designed to cushion the shock of cost increase for existing customers.
TABLE 71: HENAN NATURAL GAS CITYGATE WHOLESALE PRICES (CNY PER CUBIC METER)
As of July, 2013
Prior to July, 2013
New Gas
3.15
NA
Old Gas
-Civil Use
2.27
1.47
-Industrial Use
2.27
1.87-1.895
-Chemical Fertilizer
1.72
1.47
Source: NDRC 2013.4
The wholesale prices in Table 71 are not inclusive of the costs charged by pipelines owned by provincial
companies or private companies which transport gas from the CNPC/Sinopec transfer stations to cities
such as Hebi. Most likely these additional fees are in the range 0.1-0.2 CNY per cubic meter, which
would make old gas and new gas wholesale prices in Hebi 2.37-2.47 and 3.25-3.35 CNY per cubic meter,
respectively.
Retail prices fixed by the Henan provincial government reflect the blend of old and new gas wholesale
prices. As of year-end 2013, the prices in Hebi and neighboring Anyang are as shown in Table 72.
TABLE 72: GAS PRICES IN HEBI AND NEIGHBORING ANYANG
CNY PER CUBIC METER)
Hebi
Anyang
Industrial users
3.13
3.49
Commercial users
3.13
3.69
Residential users
-First 50 cubic meters/month
2.07
2.24
-Over 50 cubic meters/month
2.69
2.91
Source: Dahe Web 2011, Henan Province Information Center 2011
Industrial and commercial user prices were readjusted in the wake of the wholesale price changes of
July 2013, but the residential prices fixed in December 2011 were not. The average residential
customer uses considerably less than 50 cubic meters per month for cooking and hot water, and the first
50 meter increment is lower than the citygate wholesale price for old gas. Quite possibly the prices for
residential users will be adjusted upward some time in 2014-2015.
Unconventional gas such as shale gas and CBM/CMM are explicitly excluded from the wholesale price
control system, with suppliers free to sell at market price. In principle, CMM producers might expect to
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sell at the new gas prices; but, they could face some resistance from gas distribution companies until
residential user prices are increased.
5.4.2 CMM Market and End-Use Options
Hebi is a region of high demand for energy in all forms, which provides several possible markets for
CMM. Firing boilers is a common use of CMM in China, but uses only a small percentage of extracted
CMM. Demand from domestic users varies widely daily and seasonally and CMM is often vented during
the summer months when it is not needed for heating. Some CMM drained from Chinese mines has
been used for coal drying and this is a potential growth market as more Chinese coal is washed to meet
increased coal quality standards.
Pipeline sales are an option in the Hebi area. Delivering gas straight to Hebi's citygate pays CNY 1.9/cubic
meter. As noted above, however, Hebi might earn a better return shipping LNG to more distant
southern markets where wholesale prices exceed 3 CNY per cubic meter than by selling into the local
natural gas market.
Many mines use Chinese-made reciprocating engines, especially designed to be fueled by low-
concentration CMM, to produce electricity for the mine's use. The engines are relatively low cost,
modular and can operate using varying amounts and concentrations of input gas. Heat exchangers on
the generators can heat water for radiators or boilers. Power generation from CMM is generally
considered less costly and less complex than sales-to-pipeline projects. National policies encourage
sales to the grid of electricity generated using CMM, although policies are not widely enforced and local
electric grid operators have ignored them in the past.
Mine shaft heating is a mandatory process in northern China to prevent ice hazards and protect miners
during harsh winters. In warmer latitudes, gas-powered air conditioning units can be used to cool mine
shafts. January temperatures in the Hebi area average -2°C and heat produced during power generation
is an option for additional CMM energy recovery.
CMM of sufficient quality can be compressed to reduce its volume for transportation to available
markets. CNG use is a growing market in China and it is popular as a vehicle fuel, especially in taxis and
with bus fleets because CNG is up to 40 percent cheaper than gasoline. Most production is currently
centered near producing gas basins or major pipelines, although some projects have used CBM as a
feedstock. Jincheng City in Shaanxi Province, 100 km from Hebi, is a major source of CBM for a CNG
processing plant which distributes CNG to central Henan Province.
LNG is used to fill the gap between China's ever-increasing demand for natural gas and its lagging
domestic supply. China began importing LNG in 2006 and import volumes have grown rapidly. Total
imports are reported to have more than doubled between 2008-2009, with average imports of 12
million cubic meters per day in 2008 and the latest figures of 37 million cubic meters per day in 2009.
Over 60 percent of the imported LNG is used in new gas fired power stations, while the rest is
distributed as town gas for residential and industrial end users. China also has almost a dozen domestic
LNG plants in operation or under construction and leads the world in small-scale LNG production. When
the plants are all on-stream, they will produce between 6 and 7 million cubic meters per day, equivalent
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to 15-20 percent of current import volumes. As noted above, the Songzao CMM to LNG project is
underway.
5.4.2.1 Consumer Base in the Hebi Area
Henan Province is China's most populous province, with an estimated 2007 population of 98.7 million
(HSY, 2008). Hebi is a major industrial area with a large residential population. As such, there is a large
demand for both electrical power and natural gas in the area and this demand is predicted to grow
steadily at rates of 5-10 percent a year. Hebi City receives natural gas via a trunkline from the West-to-
East pipeline and has a well-developed gas distribution system. The city is supplied with electricity from
a local coal-fired plant and major transmission lines from the regional grid. Hebi City is a transportation
hub with good rail and road access to Beijing and the region's major cities.
Industries
Hebi is now a medium-sized industrial city and a transportation hub for northern Henan Province. With
the development of a new industrial and technology area, spurred by the availability of nearby industrial
mineral resources, the city's population has increased rapidly to over 1.4 million, while its 2007 GDP
growth was 18.2 percent (HESDR, 2007).
Hebi's mix of light and heavy industries include agricultural products processing; coal mining and
dressing; raw chemicals and chemical products; electronics and machine manufacturing; metallurgy;
electricity and heat production and supply; and rubber products manufacturing. Proven dolomite
reserves in the area are approximately 1 billion tonnes and source a local, energy intensive magnesium
production industry. China now produces more than 60 percent of the world's magnesium.
The province leads the country in the production of grain and oil-bearing crops and is a big producer of
cotton, meat, poultry and eggs, all of which lead to Henan Province being an important food processing
base. The thriving agricultural sector means that 66 percent of the population resides in rural areas. The
province also has extensive mineral resources, including large reserves of bituminous, anthracite and
coking coal, along with deposits of iron ore, bauxite, mica, lead, molybdenum, gold and silver. These
natural resources have provided the base for the growth of large scale industrial development led by
engineering, nonferrous metallurgical, and textile industries, and Henan Province is a national leader in
lead, aluminum, and glass production. Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, lies in the heart of the cotton-
growing area and is one of the main focal points of China's textile industry.
Nearby cities
Xinxiang is located 37 miles to the south-west of Hebi and is the chief city of northern Henan. Situated at
the junction of major east-west and north-south rail lines, Xinxiang is also linked by the highway
network to the three large provincial cities of Zhengzhou, Kaifeng and Luoyang and via expressway to
Beijing. In addition to cotton-textile production, spinning, and dyeing, its industries now include food
processing and the manufacture of electronics, pharmaceuticals, machinery, automobiles and
automotive parts, and chemicals. The city has grown rapidly to an urban population of 5.5 million.
Anyang, with a total population of 5.2 million, lies 25 miles to the north-west of Hebi. It has been a
regional agriculture and trade center for centuries and is located on the main north-south rail line from
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Beijing to Guangzhou. Established textile mills and food-processing plants have been joined by heavy
manufacturing and high-tech industries.
5.5 Guizhou
5.5.1 Regional Natural Gas Demand
As of early 2014, Guizhou is a virtually untapped gas market. The province has no known conventional
oil or natural gas deposits. Despite Guizhou's proximity to the gas fields in neighboring Sichuan
Province, the central government has chosen to allocate the output of these fields to more populated,
developed provinces. As a result, no pipelines link Guizhou to Sichuan with the exception of a short,
dedicated pipeline across the Yangtze River to an ammonia/urea fertilizer complex in the city of Chishui
on the Sichuan border. This single facility accounts for the vast majority of the reported 500 million
cubic meters of natural gas reported to have been consumed in Guizhou in 2007 (CESY, 2008 Table 5-22;
Cnlist, 2010).
Token amounts (perhaps 10-20 million cubic meters per year) of LNG from several small Chinese plants
have been trucked into Guizhou since 2006 to serve only a small number of residential customers and
automotive CNG users in various cities. With the commissioning of the Dazhou small-scale LNG plant in
Sichuan in 2010, these shipments may increase on the order of 100 million cubic meters per year.
CMM is a major potential source of non-traditional natural gas for Guizhou. But at present, the vast
majority of liberated CMM is lost as VAM. Of the 684 million cubic meters recovered in 2009 province-
wide, all but 84 million were reported to be vented to the atmosphere (Xinhuanet Economic News,
2010). No CMM is known to have been used outside of the immediate mining areas.
5.5.2 Future Demand and New Supply
Significant volumes of natural gas will enter Guizhou starting from approximately 2013 when the CNPC
pipeline from Burma is scheduled to be completed. Guizhou political leaders have made a preliminary
commitment to purchase up to three billion cubic meters of the pipeline's 12 billion annual flow by 2020
(Guizhou Capital City Newspaper, 2008). Initial volumes will undoubtedly be lower; between one and
two billion cubic meters is a reasonable estimate.
The trunk pipeline will enter Guizhou from Yunnan Province to the west and run a reported 300 km
eastward through Anshun Municipality, Guiyang, Duyun Municipality, Dushan and Libo Counties and
onward to Guangxi Province. The Guizhou Gas Group has developed preliminary plans for a network of
branch pipelines from the trunkline, including a line that would run north from Guiyang towards the city
of Zunyi.
A proposed 15 billion cubic meter per year pipeline from Ningxia Province in the north to the Guizhou
capital city of Guiyang would open up Guizhou to significant quantities of gas from the northwest. The
central government is unlikely to grant CNPC final permission to proceed with the line until it has
secured a gas source, most likely from Turkmenistan through the so-called third West-to-East pipeline,
currently in the planning and negotiation phase. Officials in Guizhou have expressed the hope that this
pipeline could be completed at approximately the same time as the pipeline from Burma in 2013, but of
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securing the gas source could delay the project for several years (Sichuan News, 2010; International
Gasnet, 2010).
Total demand is difficult to determine in the absence of supply, which itself tends to stimulate latent
demand. Based on current estimated usages in Guizhou, natural gas substitution for other fuels would
create demand in the vicinity of 1.5 billion cubic meters, as follows:
• About 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas to replace the estimated 2 billion cubic meters per year
of coal gas currently burned as fuel in the province.
• 470 million cubic meters of natural gas to replace the estimated 400,000 tonnes per year of fuel oil
currently consumed in the province.
• 175 million cubic meters of natural gas to replace the estimated 125,000 tonnes per year of
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) such as propane and butane currently consumed in the province
(CESC, 2008 Tables 3-14, 3-15, 5-18; GSB, 2010 Table 5).
Residential consumption, which has been a major driver for natural gas development in many other
locations, is likely to play a somewhat more modest role in Guizhou, with its small population and low
urbanization level. If all of Guizhou's reported 11.4 million urban residents were to consume natural gas
at the approximately 70 cubic meters per year per capita level of residential customers in Chongqing,
total residential demand would be about 800 million cubic meters. Consumption at commercial
facilities such as stores and restaurants would amount to an additional 100 million cubic meters, judging
by the ratio of commercial to residential consumption in other parts of China.
Rapid development of industrial and other non-residential markets will therefore be necessary to absorb
the considerable volume of new supply of natural gas likely to enter Guizhou starting from 2013. The
significant number of heavy industry factories in Guizhou offer particularly promising potential markets.
These, in addition to the industries that the CNPC is reported to be working with, include aircraft and
other military equipment facilities, steel mills, cement plants, and phosphorous processing plants.
Guizhou Gas Group will be partially responsible for the development of these markets. The CNPC itself,
however, appears to be taking direct responsibility for the marketing of some of its Burmese gas in
Guizhou. Reports indicate that the CNPC plans to:
• Set up a network of 12 major CNG production sites and 120 to 150 CNG automotive filling stations
throughout the province;
• Construct four combined cycle power generation stations to be used for peaking power;
• Develop residential distribution networks in a number of localities; and
• Create natural gas industrial parks, and sell directly to existing major industrial energy users such as
the Guizhou Aluminum Factory and the Maotai Spirits Factory (Huaxia, 2010).
In summary, the size of the market in Guizhou is likely to exceed initial expectations once natural gas is
actually present and the convenience and environmental benefits of natural gas are experienced for the
first time. The speed at which this transformation occurs, however, is hard to predict, and there
remains some possibility that the supply of new pipeline gas may temporarily exceed in-province
demand.
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5.5.3 CMM Market and End-Use Options
An in-province pipeline network has been planned to distribute Burmese gas. Additionally, the Guizhou
Gas Company has contemplated a pipeline network that would extend to Renhuai County,
approximately 30 km east of Linhua, but has not indicated how quickly this network will be constructed.
Prior to the anticipated arrival of gas from Burma in 2013, Guizhou should be able to absorb LNG
produced by Linhua. Even if supply temporarily outstrips demand for the first few years after the arrival
of pipeline gas, local distribution companies under the Guizhou Gas Group-and possibly even those
under CNPC-will have an interest to retain a reliable local supplier like Linhua, in order to hedge against
the risks of supply interruption from Burma and to supply the parts of the province that are not initially
covered by the new pipeline network.
The estimated citygate Guizhou price of 2.8 to 3.0 CNY per meter for Burmese gas will establish the
baseline for the ex-LNG plant price that Linhua would be able to charge a distribution company. Given
the reported 0.1 CNY per 100 km tanker truck transport cost for LNG produced by other CBM producers
in China and the approximately 300 km distance from Linhua to Guiyang, 2.5 CNY per cubic meter
represents a reasonable estimate for the price that Linhua could expect to receive.
Locations outside of Guizhou may offer attractive markets for CMM. Shortages of gas in larger, more
developed provinces such as Guangdong, or even Guangxi, are likely to remain acute even as supply of
imported gas pipeline gas and LNG increases. The unserved or underserved medium-sized cities in these
provinces offer particular possibilities.
Wholesale prices to Guangdong/Guangxi for imported LNG or pipeline gas from Central Asia and the
Northwest will likely be 3.5-4.0 CNY rather than 3.0 CNY as in Guizhou. This would compensate for the
higher transport costs to the markets in Guangdong and Guangxi, located 1,000 to 1,500 km distance
from Linhua. Private natural gas distribution companies with franchises in these areas have indicated
informally those prices as high as 3.0 CNY per cubic meter could be considered for LNG produced in the
Chongqing-Guizhou area.
5.5.4 Pricing
The provincially owned Guizhou Gas Group is the predominant distribution company both for coal gas
and for the limited volumes of pipeline natural gas currently distributed in the major cities of Guizhou
such as Guiyang, Zunyi County. The prices it can charge its customers for both coal gas and natural gas
are fixed by The Guizhou Provincial Price Bureau.
Due to their political sensitivity, prices to residential consumers are lower than costs in many locations.
Nonetheless almost all distribution companies throughout the country operate with at least a small
profit due to the willingness of the local regulators to allow significantly higher charges to industrial and
commercial customers in order to ensure full cost recovery.
The difference between the wholesale prices paid by the distribution companies and the prices that they
charge to residential customers typically fall in the 0.5-1.0 CNY per cubic meter range. The comparable
mark-ups to industrial users can be as high as one to two CNY. Generally speaking, wholesale price
increases are passed on to final consumers, sometimes with a time lag.
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In view of the varying costs of the upstream gas source, retail prices vary widely by region. The range
for prices to residential users near year-end 2010 is approximately as follows:
• 1.0-2.0 CNY per cubic meter in cities such as Chongqing, located near major gas fields;
• 2.5-3.0 CNY per cubic meter in heartland cities served by long-distance domestic pipelines;
• 3.5-4.0 CNY per cubic meter in cities dependent on LNG imported under long-term contracts; and
• 4.5-6.0 CNY per cubic meter in certain cities in Guangdong and eastern provinces dependent on spot
LNG purchases or LNG from the small domestic plants.
Natural gas prices to residential and commercial users in the city of Kaili, Guizhou, at a reported 3.18
CNY per cubic meter and 3.49 CNY per cubic meter, respectively, fall roughly in the middle of this
spectrum (Chemnet, 2009). After a round of increases in 2010, Guiyang pipeline coal gas distribution
prices reached rough equivalence with the Kaili natural gas distribution prices on a heating value basis
(Guizhou Price Bureau 2010.1, 2010.2). These prices will inevitably shape Guizhou price regulatory
authority expectations for price of natural gas from new sources.
5.6 Inner Mongolia
5.6.1 Supply and Consumption
The most populated regions of Western Inner Mongolia are located in close proximity to the CNPC's
Changqing gas field, which overtook Xinjiang to become China's largest producer as output increased
more than three-fold from 2005-2011 to 27.2 billion cubic meters in 2011. Changqing straddles the
Shaanxi-lnner Mongolia border region. Although its output is officially considered to originate from
Shaanxi Province, in fact a substantial amount is gathered in the Wushen Banner (County) area of Inner
Mongolia's Ordos Municipality.
The majority of Changqing's output is shipped eastward to Beijing-Tianjin, as well as to the provinces of
Shanxi and Hebei enroute through three pipelines with total capacity of over 30 billion cubic meters.
About 4-5 billion cubic meters are shipped south through two pipelines to Xi'an and other cities in
Shaanxi province; as production rapidly increases, a third pipeline with initial capacity of 3 billion and
additional capacity of 9 billion was in planning as of mid-2012. As much as 1 billion cubic meters are
sent southwest through another pipeline to Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia.
Inner Mongolia itself consumed an estimated 5-6 billion cubic meters of pipeline natural gas from the
Changqing field in 2011, with potential to rise to about 9-10 million cubic meters per year through
existing pipelines and other facilities including:
• Pipelines of one billion and six billion cubic meters capacity from Changqing to the provincial
capital Huhehaote, which also serve the province's other major urban center Baotou, and the
center of Ordos Municipality.
• The 245 km, 460 million cubic meters per year Changqing-Western Inner Mongolia pipeline
running through Ordos Municipality to an industrial park east of Wuhai Municipality.
• The 900 million cubic meter pipeline running northwest through Wuhai Municipality to Linhe on
the north side of the Yellow River.
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• A 350 MW power plant at the gas field, which consumes an estimated 250 million cubic meters
per year.
TABLE 73: NATURAL GAS SUPPLY AND CONSUMPTION IN WESTERN INNER MONGOLIA
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Changqing Gas field
Output
8,047
11,010
14,420
18,952
22,349
27,221
NA
Inner Mongolia
Consumption
3,053
2,651
3,053
4,429
4,532
4,084
3,784
Source: CESY (2010); Shaanxi Statistical Bureau (2011, 2012)
Consumption has been somewhat more industry driven than in the rest of China, with residential use
accounting for only 12.2 percent of the total in 2009 (Figure 35). Use of gas as a chemical feedstock is
notably higher than in most other areas.
FIGURE 35: INNER MONGOLIA NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION, 2009
Source: CESY (2013) p.161
Residential and commercial consumption should rise significantly as Huhehaote and Baotou begin to
absorb larger volumes of gas through the new pipeline; however, industry may always account for a
disproportionately high share of gas consumption given Inner Mongolia's resource based economy.
5.6.2 Pipeline Gas Pricing
Changqing field wellhead prices as of mid-2012 are shown below in Table 74.
TABLE 74: WELLHEAD PRICES FOR CHANGQING FIELD GAS, MID-2012 (CNY/M3)
Benchmark
Maximum (benchmark plus 10%)
Industrial use
1.355-1.4
1.49-1.54
Chemical fertilizer feedstock
0.89
0.979
Non-industrial
1.0
1.1
Source: NDRC (2010.2)
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Pipeline transmission prices to Huhehaote, Baotou, and major developed areas of Ordos Municipality
are reported to be in the vicinity of 0.2-0.235 CNY/m3 (Government of Inner Mongolia, 2010). Prices
charged by the Huhehaote Gas Company to its customers were as follows in Table 75.
TABLE 75: HUHEHAOTE GAS COMPANY RESIDENTIAL AND NON-RESIDENTIAL GAS PRICES
Residential customers
1.82 CNY/m3
Non-residential customers
2.0 CNY/m3
Source: Inner Mongolia Communist Party (2010)
5.6.3 Small LNG Plants
A series of LNG plants with total aggregate capacity close to one billion cubic meters per year have been
completed or are under construction in western Inner Mongolia and other locations within a relatively
short distance of the Changqing gas field. These plants are listed below in Table 76.
TABLE 76: LNG PLANTS IN INNER MONGOLIA AND SURROUNDING AREAS
Location
Owner
Capacity
(million
m3 equivalent)
Feedstock
Date completed
Linhe, Inner
Mongolia
Huayou Gas Company
Ltd. (controlled by CNPC
subsidiary)
90
Changqing
pipeline gas
2011
Etuokeqian
Banner, Ordos
City, Inner
Mongolia
Shitai Company
(local distribution utility)
54
Changqing
pipeline gas
2010
Hangjin Banner,
Ordos City, Inner
Mongolia
Xinsheng Gas Group
45
Changqing
Pipeline Gas
2010
Hangjin Banner,
Ordos City, Inner
Mongolia
Xinsheng Gas Group
(LNG manufacturer)
180
Changqing
Pipeline Gas
2012
Jingbian County,
Shaanxi Province
Xilan Natural Gas Group
(gas distribution utility)
150
Changqing
Pipeline Gas
2011
Ansai County,
Shaanxi Province
Huayou
60
Changqing
Pipeline Gas
2012
Yinchuan City,
Ningxia
Autonomous
Region (Province)
Hanasi New Energy
(distribution utility)
240
Changqing and
West-to-East
pipeline gas
2012
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Wuhai City, Inner
Mongolia
Huayou
150
Coke oven gas5
2013
The gas for these plants (excepting the coke oven gas) comes either from allocations to local
governments/distribution companies and/or from extra gas that CNPC manages to reserve for its own
use.
Local end-uses include automotive fuel (for the CNPC's own plants in particular), and reserves to be
used for peaking by gas distribution companies. With prices for CNG fixed at 3.56 CNY per cubic meter
equivalent in Inner Mongolia in 2012, according to the formula tying CNG prices to gasoline prices, liquid
fuel probably offers an attractive return relative to other local uses.
A significant portion is also shipped on long-distance tanker trucks to load centers in gas-starved coastal
provinces that are willing to pay a premium compared to pipeline gas. As noted above, the prices of
LNG from these plants are not regulated by the central government, and the local distributors can earn a
better return shipping gas to distant provinces than they can by selling pipeline gas to local customers.
5.6.4 Market for CMM
Low wellhead, transmission, and retail sales prices prevailing in the region surrounding the Changqing
gas field present economic obstacles to the sale of purified CMM to either CNPC for pipeline injection or
for sale in gas form to local distribution companies. Given the relative abundance of available
conventional gas, it is unlikely that a pipeline would be extended to absorb small volumes from a
producer such as the Tai Xi coal mines in Alashan League on the west side of the Yellow River. The
installation of pipeline to send gas to the nearest city of Alashan, located 47 km from the mine, for
domestic supply would reduce the consumption of natural gas in the city, but due to the long pipeline
distance required from the mine to the city, this scenario is considered cost prohibitive.
LNG presents a much more feasible prospect for CMM producers. LNG plants could offer mines such as
Tai Xi the flexibility to pursue a number of different marketing outlets simultaneously, including local
civil use (a possibility in a location such as Alashan that did not as of 2012 have a local distribution
system) and higher return end-uses such as automotive use and sales to richer provinces with higher
prevailing gas prices.
As can be seen from Table 76 above, a number of LNG plants with pipeline natural gas have already
been built in the region. The coke oven gas project in Wuhai offers a particularly encouraging precedent
for the economic viability of a CMM LNG plant. Its purification cost, like that of CMM, is higher than for
conventional natural gas allocations to local governments that do not have fully developed local
residential and industrial demand and/or are searching for a higher return on gas sales.
5 Coke oven gas will be captured from nine coking plants in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region's Wuhai City and processed
in two liquefaction plants. The liquefied gas will be used by Ningxia Petrochemical as a feedstock for fertilizer production
(Interfax China, 2012).
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6. Comparison of Opportunities between Provinces
6.1 Access to Market
6.1.1 Antral
In Anhui Province, the city of Huainan presents the best opportunity for CMM utilization. Strong
demand for Anhui power in the Yangtze Delta provinces, combined with rapid growth in Anhui provincial
power demand would create the best possible circumstances for a CMM power plant at Huainan. In
Huainan and Hefei there are a number of commercial and industrial plants that could utilize natural gas.
Anhui's provincial leadership called in its energy five-year plan for 2011-2015 for wider use of CMM in
Anhui, but without specific reference to the power sector. From a supply and demand perspective,
Anhui needs any power that CMM plants could provide. Most of the 10 CMM projects either operating
or in development in Anhui are power generation and town gas projects (Table 77).
TABLE 77: ANHUI PROVINCE CMM PROJECTS
Name
Project Type
Mine Status
Project Status
Mining Group(s)
Huaibei Mining
Group Company
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Huaibei Mining Group
Company
Huaibei Mining
Group Company
Town Gas
Active (underground)
Operating
Huaibei Mining Group
Company
Huainan Mining
Group-Pansan
Mine
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Huainan Mining
Group
Huainan Mining
Group
Town Gas
Active (underground)
Operating
Huainan Mining
Group
Huainan Mining
Group
VAM as Primary
Fuel for Power
Generation
Active (underground)
In
Development
Huainan Mining
Group
Huainan Mining
Group
Boiler Fuel
Active (underground)
Operating
Huainan Mining
Group
Huainan Mining
Group-Pansan
Mine
Town Gas
Active (underground)
Operating
Huainan Mining
Group
Huainan Mining
Group-CHP 1
Combined Heat
and Power (CHP)
Active (underground)
Operating
Huainan Mining
Group
Huainan Mining
Group-CHP 2
Combined Heat
and Power (CHP)
Active (underground)
In
Development
Huainan Mining
Group
Wanbei Coal and
Electricity Group
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Wanbei Coal and
Electricity Group
Source: GMI (2014)
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6.1.2 Chongqing
Chongqing has one of the oldest and best-developed natural gas distribution infrastructures in China
due to its proximity to the Sichuan gas fields. Despite an aggressive investment program by the
Chongqing Municipal government and the five national generating companies in the 2005-2011 period,
which nearly doubled generating capacity and led to 13 percent per year growth in municipal power
generation, Chongqing continued to depend on outside generation sources for 25 percent of its power
supply. The Chongqing Municipal government has put forward a plan to double generating capacity
within the city to 20,000 MW or more during the Twelfth Five-year Plan period from 2011-2015.
Chongqing has a variety of successful CMM projects including VAM destruction, town gas, boiler fuel,
power generation, and an LNG project underway (listed below as "Other") (Table 78).
TABLE 78: CHONGQING CMM PROJECTS
Name
Project Type
Mine Status
Project Status
Mining Group(s)
Chongqing
Nantong Mining
LLC
Town Gas
Active (underground)
Operating
Chongqing Nantong
Mining LLC
Chongqing
Nantong Mining
LLC
Boiler Fuel
Active (underground)
Operating
Chongqing Nantong
Mining LLC
Datong
VAM
Destruction
Active (underground)
In Development
Songzao Coal and
Chongqing Electricity
Company Ltd.
Songzao Coal and
Electricity
Company
VAM
Destruction
Active (underground)
In Development
Songzao Coal and
Chongqing Electricity
Company Ltd.
Songzao Coal and
Electricity
Company
Other
Active (underground)
In Development
Songzao Coal and
Electricity Company
Songzao Coal and
Electricity
Company-Power
Gen Phase 1
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Songzao Coal and
Electricity Co.
Songzao Coal and
Electricity
Company-Power
Gen Phase 2
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
In Development
Songzao Coal and
Electricity Co.
Zhongliangshan
Coal Electricity
Gas Co
Boiler Fuel
Active (underground)
Operating
Zhongliangshan Coal
Electricity Gas Co
Source: GMI (2014)
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6.1.3 He nan
Henan's electricity consumption growth rate fell in 2012, and increased only modestly in 2013, lower
than the national average for both years. The overwhelming majority of the power generated in Henan
is consumed in-province. Weak electricity demand in Henan from 2012-2013 resulted directly from the
weaknesses of its heavy industry, and particularly from the weakness of its aluminum sector.
As is the case throughout China, gas supply in Henan is constraining consumption. From a supply and
demand perspective, the province should be able to absorb all purified CMM that becomes available.
Henan Province has a variety of CMM project types including VAM destruction, combined heat and
power, and power generation. Henan has 14 CMM projects operating or in development as shown in
Table 79.
TABLE 79: HENAN CMM PROJECTS
Name
Project Type
Mine Status
Project Status
Mining Group(s)
Jinling CMM
Power
Generation
Project
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Dengfeng Jinling
CMM Power
Generation Co
Jinling CMM
Power
Generation
Project
Boiler Fuel
Active (underground)
Operating
Dengfeng Jinling
CMM Power
Generation Co
Hebi Coal
Industry Group-
Power Gen 1
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Hebi Coal Industry
Company
Hebi Coal
Industry Group-
Power Gen 2
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Hebi Coal Industry
Company
Jiaozuo Coal
Industrial Group
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Jiaozuo Coal Mining
Group
Pingdingshan
Coal Group
Combined Heat
and Power
(CHP)
Active (underground)
Operating
Pingdingshan Coal
Group
Pingdingshan
Coal Group
VAM
Destruction
Active (underground)
Operating
Pingdingshan Coal
Group
Pingdingshan
Coal Group
Combined Heat
and Power
(CHP)
Active (underground)
In Development
Pingdingshan Coal
Group
Yima Coal
Industry Group
Co
Combined Heat
and Power
(CHP)
Active (underground)
Operating
Yima Coal Industry
Group
Yima Coal
Industry Group
Co
VAM
Destruction
Active (underground)
In Development
Yima Coal Industry
Group
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Zhengzhou Coal
Industry Group
Co - CHP 1
Combined Heat
and Power
(CHP)
Active (underground)
In Development
Zhengzhou Coal
Industry Group
Zhengzhou Coal
Industry Group
Co - CHP 2
Combined Heat
and Power
(CHP)
Active (underground)
In Development
Zhengzhou Coal
Industry Group
Zhengzhou Coal
Industry Group
Co - VAM 1
VAM
Destruction
Active (underground)
Operating
Zhengzhou Coal
Industry Group
Zhengzhou Coal
Industry Group
Co - VAM 2
VAM
Destruction
Active (underground)
In Development
Zhengzhou Coal
Industry Group
Source: GMI (2014)
6.1.4 Guizhou
The Guizhou power grid is one of five interconnected provincial grids which are controlled by the state-
owned China Southern Power Grid Company (CSPGC). Guizhou has become an important electricity
supplier to nearby Guangdong and it is expected that Guangdong will continue to depend on significant
volumes of electricity purchase from Guizhou and other CPSGC provinces for the foreseeable future.
Currently, natural gas in Guizhou is limited to LNG trucked in and used for a small number of residential
and automotive customers. Guizhou's pipeline network is expected to expand with the CNPC pipeline
from Burma completing in 2013. The trunk pipeline will enter Guizhou from Yunnan Province to the west
and run a reported 300 km eastward through Anshun Municipality, Guiyang, Duyun Municipality,
Dushan and Libo Counties and onward to Guangxi Province. The Guizhou Gas Group has developed
preliminary plans for a network of branch pipelines from the trunkline, including a line that would run
north from Guiyang towards the city of Zunyi. These developments increase the viability of different
kinds of CMM projects, as currently no CMM is known to have been used outside of the immediate
mining areas. Guizhou has two CMM projects as shown in Table 80.
TABLE 80: GUIZHOU CMM PROJECTS
Name
Project Type
Mine Status
Project Status
Mining Group(s)
Shuicheng
Mining Group
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Shuicheng Mining
Group
Shuicheng
Mining Group
Town Gas
Active (underground)
Operating
Shuicheng Mining
Group
Panjiang Coal
Bed Methane
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Guizhou Panjiang CBM
Development &
Utilisation Co. Ltd
Hong'guo Mine
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Junfeng Panshui Coal
Mine Co.
Qinglong coal
mine
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Guizhou Nenghua
Group
Source: GMI (2014)
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6.1.5 Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is served by two separate power grids: (1) the western and central grid operated by the
IMPGC, and (2) the considerably smaller northeastern regional grid operated by the NEIMPGC. Inner
Mongolia is a significant net supplier of electricity to outside provinces, based on its abundant coal
resources, sparse population and modest internal demand, and relative proximity to the Beijing-Tianjin
load center. Inner Mongolia has the potential to become an even more significant source of power to
the rest of China based not only on its coal resources, but also on the wind power potential created by
the Siberian winds sweeping across its sprawling grasslands and deserts.
Low wellhead, transmission, and retail sales prices prevailing in the region surrounding the Changqing
gas field of Inner Mongolia present economic obstacles to the sale of purified CMM. LNG presents a
much more feasible prospect for CMM producers. The LNG plant offers mines the flexibility to pursue a
number of different marketing outlets simultaneously, including local civil use and higher return end-
uses such as automotive use and sales to richer provinces with higher prevailing gas prices. There is one
CMM project operating and two others planned in Inner Mongolia as shown in Table 81.
TABLE 81: INNER MONGOLIA CMM PROJECTS
Name
Project Type
Mine Status
Project Status
Mining Group(s)
Ningxia Wulan
Coal Mine
Methane Power
Generation
Project
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Operating
Shenhua Ningxia Coal
Industry Group Co.
Ltd.
Wuda
Wuhushan Coal
Mine Methane
Power
Generation
Project
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Planned
Shenhua Wuhai
Energy Co., Ltd.
Inner Mongolia
Adaohai Mine
Gas Utilization
Project
Power
Generation
Active (underground)
Planned
Shenhua Group
Baotou Mining Co.,
Ltd.
Source: UNFCCC (2012), UNEP (2014)
The Ningxia Wulan project comprises 16 internal combustion engines, with a total capacity of 8 MW
fueled with CMM/CBM from the Wulan mine, to produce electricity which is supplied to the local power
grid. The project has been registered with a 10 year crediting period as a CDM project and began
operation in December of 2010. The Wuda Wuhushan project was registered as a CDM project in August
of 2011 and will utilize CMM for power generation with a total capacity of 7 MW. The electricity
produced will be supplied to Wuda coal mine area, in replacement of electricity from the North China
Power Grid.
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6.2 Pricing
In Anhui, the recent average wholesale electricity price is 0.4211 CNY/kWh; however, large industrial
users, including coal mines, may pay peak summer prices up to 1.0623 CNY/kWh (Table 82). These rates
make mine site power projects look attractive in Anhui. Regarding natural gas prices, the citygate price
paid in Anhui from the West-to-East Pipeline is similar to retail prices paid by automotive CNG users in
Chongqing and similar long-distance pipeline customers in Guizhou.
TABLE 82: COMPARISON OF ELECTRICITY AND NATURAL GAS PRICES ACROSS PROVINCES
Province
Wholesale Electricity
Price (CNY/kWh)
Natural Gas Price (CNY/cubic meter)
Anhui
0.4211 (coal-fired with
FGD)
0.338 (small hydro)
0.61 (wind)
0.75 (biomass)
CNPC Xinjiang gas, first West-to-East
Pipeline Residential
1.54
CNPC Xinjiang gas, first West-to-East
Pipeline Industrial
1.965
Sinopec Sichuan gas, Sichuan to East
Pipeline (all uses)
2.16
Chongqing
0.449 (local coal-fired with
FGD)
0.5534 (natural gas-fired
from Henan)
Industrial
2.24
Residential
1.72
Commercial
2.29
Sales to CNG Manufacturer
1.746
Municipal lighting/other infrastructure
2.29
Hebi
Area/Henan
0.4262 (coal-fired with
FGD)
0.609 (natural gas-fired
power)
0.28-0.342 (hydro)
0.61 (wind)
0.75 (biomass)
0.5742-0.65 (urban waste-
to-energy)
Industrial/commercial
3.13
Residential (first 50 cubic meters per
month)
2.07
Residential (over 50 cubic meters per
month)
2.69
Guizhou
0.3738 (coal-fired with
FGD)
0.2334-0.326 (hydro)
0.61 (wind)
0.7938-1.0 (solar)
Cities located near major gas fields
(retail)
1-2
Cities served by long-distance domestic
pipelines (retail)
2.5-3.0
Cities dependent on LNG imported under
long-term contracts (retail)
3.5-4.0
Inner
Mongolia
0.3109-0.375 (coal-fired)
0.51 (wind)
Industrial
1.355-1.54
Chemical fertilizer/feedstock
0.89-0.979
Non-industrial
1.0-1.1
Chongqing benefits from low-priced hydropower with wholesale prices between 0.2 and 0.3 CNY per
kWh, significantly lower than the 0.5534 CNY per kWh obtained for gas fired power (Table 82).
Chongqing's regulated natural gas prices are some of the lowest in China because of its proximity to the
gas source and because of its long history of gas use.
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Henan's coal-fired electricity prices are similar to Chongqing, and gas-fired power is more expensive at
0.609 CNY/kWh. Henan's industrial and commercial gas prices are high at 3.13 CNY/kWh.
Guizhou coal fired power wholesale prices are slightly lower than other provinces. Guizhou's electric
power is expected to remain strongly cost-competitive in view of the availability in Guizhou of
inexpensive local coal and water resources. Guizhou is a largely untapped gas market, thus gas prices
are based mostly on pipeline and LNG prices. Cities served by long-distance pipelines are paying a high
2.5-3.0 CNY/cubic meter.
Inner Mongolia's coal-fired electricity prices are comparable to Anhui at 0.3109-0.375 CNY per kWh.
Inner Mongolia is a significant net supplier of electricity to outside provinces based on its abundant coal
resources, sparse population and modest internal demand. The wind power rush of 2006-2011 resulted
in the construction of 15,000 MW of grid-connected wind power plants mid-2012, 20 percent of the
overall provincial electricity capacity and nearly half of the total, national wind capacity. Wind electricity
is sold at 0.51 CNY per kWh. CMM-fired electricity is expected to be sold at this price or lower.
7. Conclusion
7.1 Summary of National Issues Impeding the CMM Market
Though China's government has implemented a number of policies and mechanisms to encourage
natural gas CMM development with some success, there are a number of barriers to a widespread and
flourishing CMM market. China's abundant low-quality drained CMM is not only unsafe to use, but
safely transporting and handling these explosive gas mixtures is unreliable. Additionally, inconsistent
laws, such as that requiring use of CMM with methane concentration greater than 30 percent, affects
additionality of a number of high quality CMM recovery and utilization CDM projects.
Coal provides 70 percent of the energy consumed annually in China, with only four percent provided by
natural gas. Being considerably cheaper to produce than natural gas, coal will remain the dominant
power source into the future. Currently, with China's underdeveloped natural gas market, many do not
have access to natural gas, limiting the potential market for CMM. Of the estimated 664 million people
living in Chinese cities, suburbs, and towns, only 145 million had access to natural gas at year-end 2010.
Entire provinces, such as Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Ningxia offered virtually no gas to their urban
residents, and even highly-developed provinces such as Guangdong and Jiangsu only offered gas to 12
and 22 percent of their respective city and town dwellers.
Given the rapid construction of electricity generation capacity in China since 2003, including many
projects still outstanding, there is a distinct possibility that power generation capacity will outstrip
demand in many parts of the country over the next three to five years. The appetite for new power
construction will likely decrease correspondingly, and dispatch of existing plants-particularly coal-fired
power plants-will decrease.
7.2 Summary of Provincial Issues Impeding the CMM Market
In Anhui, many mines are located in rural areas lacking a natural gas market. At the Liuzhuang mine, for
example, nearby villages utilize either agricultural waste (straw) or waste coal for heating. Waste coal is
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abundant and quite inexpensive. CMM in areas such as this would need to be sold at an extremely low
price to displace this waste coal. Anhui provides significant power to neighboring Yangtze River Delta
provinces on the East China Power grid, which are being restricted on the number of new coal-fired
power plants allowed. Scarcity and expense of natural gas in Anhui have prevented the development of
combined-cycle plants, limiting the market for CMM and other gas sources for electricity generation.
Chongqing has a well-developed gas infrastructure; however, gas prices are among China's lowest.
Chongqing Gas may not prove to be a reliable long-term customer absent administrative direction from
the municipal government and/or a major increase in the cost of gas to Chongqing from the domestic
producers. This means CMM recovered in Chongqing will most likely need to be sold outside of the
province, such as to neighboring provinces like Guangxi and Guizhou.
Chongqing is one of six provincial level units making up the Central China grid. The Central China grid is
a net power exporter to the rest of China, with generation exceeding supply within the grid by about
60,000 GWh in 2007. The surplus comes from the rich hydropower resources in the region (hydropower
accounted for about one third of the Central China grid's output in 2006, far and away the highest such
percentage in the country). The abundance of hydropower in the region makes CMM-generated power
less attractive.
In Henan, the trends of slow growth in power plant consumption of natural gas are expected to continue
as gas is priced so much higher than coal; on a heating value basis, natural gas is about 3.5-4.5 times
higher than coal. Unlike the coastal regions, inland provinces such as Henan do not appear yet to be at
the tipping point where the combination of environmental pressures and wealth begin to influence
decisions to build new coal fired power plants.
Guizhou is a virtually untapped gas market with limited infrastructure. Token amounts of LNG from
several small Chinese plants have been trucked into Guizhou since 2006 to serve only a small number of
residential customers and automotive CNG users in various cities, although developments of LNG plants
in Sichuan may increase this service. CMM is a major potential source of non-traditional natural gas for
Guizhou. But at present, the vast majority of liberated CMM is lost as VAM. Increased drainage will be
required in order for CMM to provide significant natural gas to Guizhou. Sales outside of Guizhou are an
option as shortages of gas in larger, more developed provinces such as Guangdong, or even Guangxi are
likely to remain acute even as supply of imported gas pipeline gas and LNG increases.
Guizhou's disproportionate economic dependence on energy-intensive extraction and manufacture of
commodities such as coal, chemical fertilizers and their inputs/associated products, and aluminum,
creates the potential for some volatility in electricity demand. Guizhou's focus with respect to
distributed power is on solar. Unlike CMM power plants, which were promised subsidies above the coal
power wholesale price by the government in 2007-20086, but which have not been connected to the
grid in a consistent manner, there is a dedicated funding source for the subsidy payments to the
6 NDRC April 2007 Opinions Regarding Use ofCoalbed Methane and Coalmine Methane: public grid companies purchase all
power generated in excess of mining companies' own needs by CMM generation plants, pay the purchase price in a "timely
manner," and pay the CMM power generators the same prices as for power from biomass generation plants, equivalent to the
regulated wholesale purchase prices for power from new coal-fired plants, plus a 0.25 RMB per kWh surcharge.
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distributed solar plants from the renewable energy surcharge, which was raised in 2013 to 0.015 CNY for
each kWh of commercial electricity sold in China (China Southern Grid, 2014).
Low wellhead, transmission, and retail sales prices prevailing in Inner Mongolia surrounding the
Changqing gas field present economic obstacles to the sale of purified CMM for pipeline injection. Given
the relative abundance of available conventional gas, it is unlikely that a pipeline would be extended to
absorb small volumes from a producer such as the Tai Xi coal mines in Alashan League on the west side
of the Yellow River. The installation of pipeline to send gas to the nearest city of Alashan, located 47 km
from the mine, for domestic supply would reduce the consumption of natural gas in the city but due to
the long pipeline distance required from the mine to the city, this scenario is considered cost
prohibitive. LNG presents a much more feasible prospect for CMM producers. A number of LNG plants
with pipeline natural gas have already been built in the region with good results. The coke oven by-
product LNG gas project in Wuhai offers a particularly encouraging precedent for the economic viability
of a CMM to LNG plant.
Potential coal mine methane power generators in Inner Mongolia will deal with power grid companies
more experienced than in any other part of China in dealing with variable supply from small power
suppliers; however, they will have to compete with wind power plants for dispatch in a province that
has a much stronger stake in wind power than in CMM. To the extent that they are dispatched, it can be
assumed that the CMM power plants will not be able to sell their output at more than the 0.51 CNY per
kWh mandated for wind.
7.3 Benefits to Implementing CMM Projects In China
There are multiple benefits to developing CMM projects in China. CMM projects reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, improve mine safety, create jobs, improve local and regional air quality, and provide energy
independence - of particular importance as China's energy needs are expected to double from 2005 to
2030 (IEA, 2009.1). China has the world's highest CMM emissions, with nearly 13 percent of the world's
total in 2010 (USEPA, 2012). With a booming coal market and government policies to encourage natural
gas and CMM development, CMM projects are expected to continue to be favored. China is home to
nearly all CMM projects registered as CDM projects - an important source of project funding.
7.3.1 Success Stories
As of September 2014, 92 CMM projects have been prepared for the CDM and approved by the central
government; of those, 58 projects have been registered with the UNFCCC and CERs issued for 30 of
these projects (Huang, 2014). Remarkably, the largest CMM power project in the world is at the Sihe
Mine in Jincheng, Shanxi Province. This project uses Caterpillar engines to generate electricity at a 120-
MW capacity power plant, utilizing 187 million cubic meters of both CBM and CMM from the Sihe mine
(USEPA, 2006.1; Huang, 2008; Sun, 2014). The Sihe project avoids the release of three MtC02e annually.
Additionally, China is host to the first VAM project approved by the UNFCCC as a CDM project. The VAM
abatement and energy recovery project was commissioned in October of 2008 in Zhengzhou and
provides hot water for local use. In conjunction with the VAM project, the Zhengzhou group, comprising
nine coal mines, also utilizes extracted CMM to produce electricity for their own consumption as part of
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the same registered CDM project. The total emission reductions during the third monitoring period
(April 2010-March 2012) were 19,321 tC02e (UNFCCC, 2012).
The Huainan and Huaibei mining groups have had success with numerous projects in Anhui Province,
with seven of the province's eight operating CMM projects. These projects, including power generation,
town gas, boiler fuel, and combined heat and power, have all been developed as CDM projects. Annual
greenhouse gas reductions estimated from all eight projects totals 3,007,913 tC02e, as reported in the
GMI database, (GMI, 2014)). Anhui has five registered CDM projects:
• Huaibei Haizi and Luling Coal Mine Methane Utilization Project;
• Pansan Coal Mine Methane Utilization and Destruction Project;
• Huainan Panyi and Xieqiao Coal Mine Methane Utilization Project;
• Anhui Huaibei TaoyuanCoal Mine Methane Utilization Project; and
• Anhui Huaibei Qinan Coal Mine Methane Utilization Project (UNEP, 2014).
The following lists some of the more notable registered CMM and VAM projects located in other
provinces discussed in this document. Chongqing has four operating CMM projects (GMI, 2014); all are
registered CDM projects:
• Zhongliangshan Coal Mine Methane Project;
• Nantong Coal Mine Methane Project;
• Tianfu Coal Mine Methane Project;
• Chongqing Pingxiang CMM Utilization Project;
• Hechuan Yanjing Coal Mine Methane Utilization Project (UNEP, 2014); and
• Chongqing Datong Coal Mine VAM Destruction and Utilization Project.
The Datong VAM project is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 200,000 tonnes of
C02e per year (CMOP, 2010). Chongqing will also be home to a CMM purification and liquefaction
project underway as of 2014 (see Box).
Henan has nine operating CMM projects and is home to six registered CDM projects:
• Zhengzhou Coal Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. Coal Mine Methane Utilization Project;
• Yima Coal Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. CMM Utilization Project;
• Pingdingshan Coal (Group) Co., Ltd. Methane Utilization Project, Henan Province;
• Jiaozuo Coal Mine Methane (CMM) Power Generation Project of Jiaozuo Coal Industrial Group
Co. Ltd., Jiaozuo City, Henan Province;
• Jinling Coal Mine Methane (CMM) Power Generation Project of Dengfeng City, Henan Province,
and;and
• Yongcheng Xuehu Coal Mine Ventilation Air Methane Recovery and Utilization Project (UNEP,
2014).
Guizhou has two operating CMM ; six projects are registered as CDM projects in Guizhou:
• Guizhou Jinqiao Coal Mine CMM Utilization Project;
• Wantian Coal Mine CMM and VAM Utilization Project;
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• Guizhou Hongguo Coal Mine Methane Power Generation Project;
• Guizhou Panjiang Coal Mine Methane Power Generation Project;
• Guizhou Panjiang Low Concentration Coal Mine Methane Power Generation Project Phase 2;
and
• Guizhou Panjiang Low Concentration Coal Mine Methane Power Generation Project Phase 3
(UNEP, 2014).
Inner Mongolia has three registered CDM projects:
• Ningxia Wulan Coal Mine Methane Power Generation Project;
• Wuda Wuhushan Coal Mine Methane Power Generation Project; and
• Inner Mongolia Adaohai Mine Gas Utilization Project (UNEP, 2014).
USE PA CMM Feasibility Study to Result in CMM Purification and Liquefaction Project
Chongqing Energy Investment Group (CQEIG), a state-owned enterprise located in the southwest China
municipality of Chongqing, has signed a cooperative agreement with Sichuan DKT Energy Technology
Co., Ltd. to build a CMM liquefaction project. The project was initiated based on a USEPA-funded
comprehensive feasibility study and first presented as a project concept to the international community
at the 2009 M2M Partnership Expo in Beijing. -Feasibility Study of CMM Utilization for Songzao Coal
arid Electricity Company Coal Mines
The project concept laid out in the feasibility study was to connect six active mines owned by the
Songzao Coal and Electricity Company, a majority owned subsidiary of CQEIG, to a gathering system
feeding an LNG plant that would liquefy 130 million cubic meters of pure methane annually. Additional
methane would have been used to fuel 27 MW of high efficiency gas fired engines. The project
announced in 2014 by CQEIG will gather, purify, and liquefy up to 35 million cubic meters of pure
methane annually from medium-purity CMM from a single coal mine, the Shihao mine. The resultant 25
thousand tonnes of LNG will be transported by truck to the local market in the Chongqing municipality
and in booming natural gas consumption centers to the south and east. Total investment is expected to
be 250 million CNY ($40.4 million USD) and the project will commence operations by the end of 2015.
Source: GZICCEP (2014)
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