The State Council held a series of themed press conferences on "Promoting high-quality Development". At the meeting, Li Fulong, director of the Development Planning Department of the National Energy Administration, introduced that by the end of 2023, more than 95% of coal power units have achieved ultra-low emissions. China has built the world's largest clean coal power supply system. Important breakthroughs have also been made in coal-to-oil and gas technology and equipment, and relevant operational indicators have been continuously optimized.
A reporter asked: Coal is China's current main energy, is an important guarantee of energy security and an important raw material for industrial production. As the world's largest energy producer and consumer, how is the development of high-quality coal in China?
Li Fulong said that at this stage, coal is still the main energy in China, both an important fuel and an important industrial raw material. Coal plays the role of "ballast stone" in China's energy security. Over the past decade, China has adhered to overall development and security, continued to promote the construction of digital and intelligent coal mines, rationally increased advanced production capacity, strengthened the clean and efficient use of coal, and made solid steps in the high-quality development of coal, providing a solid foundation for ensuring China's energy security.
It is embodied in four aspects:
First, the ability to ensure coal supply has been continuously enhanced. Coal development is further concentrated in the western regions with good resource conditions and strong competitiveness, and the output of new raw coal in Jinshan-Mongolia increased from 2.59 billion tons in 2013 to 3.83 billion tons in 2023, accounting for 11.8 percentage points of the national output, effectively playing the role of "main force" of coal supply. Large modern coal mines have become the main body of coal production in China, and the number of mines has been reduced from more than 10,000 to about 4,200.
Second, the development of green and intelligent coal has achieved remarkable results. In the past ten years, the ecological environment of mines has been significantly improved, and the comprehensive utilization rate of mine water and land reclamation rate have both increased by more than 10 percentage points. Intelligent coal mine construction has entered a new stage of accelerated development and in-depth promotion, as of the end of May 2024, the investment in intelligent coal mine construction has completed a total of more than 112 billion yuan, and the country has built a total of 1,993 intelligent coal mining faces and 2,232 intelligent driving faces, and the effect of reducing labor and increasing antiantium is remarkable. According to preliminary statistics, the number of intelligent coal mining workers in a single shift in key coal mining enterprises has been reduced by more than 6 people, the labor efficiency has been increased by more than 20%, and the coal production mode has achieved a major change.
Third, the level of clean and efficient use of coal continues to improve. Vigorously promote the capacity building of coal washing, continue to improve the quality evaluation and management standards of commercial coal, and steadily improve the quality of coal. At the same time, electricity is a major area of coal use, and coordinated efforts have been made to eliminate backward coal power units and upgrade energy conservation and carbon reduction, flexibility and heating. By the end of last year, more than 95% of coal power units had achieved ultra-low emissions. China has built the world's largest clean coal power supply system. Important breakthroughs have also been made in coal-to-oil and gas technology and equipment, and relevant operational indicators have been continuously optimized.
Fourth, coal seam gas, that is, coal mine gas development and utilization has achieved rapid development. The coal industry has continued to promote the comprehensive treatment of coal mine gas, and the comprehensive economic, social and ecological benefits have further emerged, and the coal bed methane industry has achieved large-scale development. It has built two major industrial bases in the Qinshui Basin and the eastern edge of the Ordos Basin, and the national coal bed gas output in 2023 will be 11.77 billion cubic meters, an increase of nearly three times that of 2013, becoming a strong supplement to natural gas supply.