Thermal power plants consume 55 pct of China's coal in 2010 - SERC
Shanghai. October 25. INTERFAX-CHINA - China's thermal power plants consumed 55.1 percent of the country's total coal supplies in 2010, according to statistics released by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) Oct. 25.
The SERC also noted that thermal power plants produced roughly half of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the General Administration of Customs (GAC) earlier this year showed that China produced 3.24 billion tons of coal in 2010, while net imports totaled 106 million tons over the same period.
Coal accounts for more than 70 percent China's energy mix. The country is endeavoring to reduce the proportion of coal in the mix over the next few years by promoting renewable energy sources such as hydro, wind and solar power, as well as improving efficiencies at thermal power plants, said the SERC.
Thermal power generators in China consumed on average 333 grams of coal per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity produced in 2010, a 33 gram reduction from 2006.
The 10 percent increase in efficiency has made China's large-scale thermal power generators some of the most efficient in the world, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in analysis published in late September.
-WV