China's State Grid urges government to intervene
in power crisis
BEIJING, Jan 23, 2008 -- XFN-ASIA
The State Grid Corp has asked the Chinese government to provide more
assistance in handling the current power supply crisis, and to do all it can
to boost the delivery of coal to key regions, according to Shanghai's China
Business News.
In a document submitted to the state regulator, the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC), State Grid called on the government to use
"supply-side management" to solve the problem, which has led to power
rationing throughout central and southern China.
The shortages have also spread to northern China, with power plants in the
major coal-producing province of Shanxi forced to operate below capacity,
according to the local power grid.
In a response published on its website today, the NDRC urged coal and power
producers to coordinate better with the railways and ports in order to avoid
shortages during the peak winter consumption period. It also called upon the
transportation sector to organize deliveries more effectively.
It said that the efforts to improve safety in the coal industry had created
supply problems, and also blamed the weather for disrupting coal deliveries
in recent weeks.
It also used the shortages to call for a more rapid transformation of
China's high energy-consuming economy.
The NDRC has promised to help guarantee coal supplies to major power
generators, and has also ordered the suspension of deliveries for coal not
used in power generation.
According to figures from the State Grid, the national power coal stockpile
stood at 17.73 mln tons on Jan 20, down more than 40 pct year-on-year. It
can guarantee only 8 days of electricity generation. The stockpiles for the
central Chinese power grid, where shortages are particularly pronounced
after weeks of poor weather, stood at only 5.57 mln tons, half the normal
level and capable of guaranteeing only 7 days of consumption, said the
report.
Seventy pct of all coal deliveries are made by truck, but weather problems,
coupled with the increase in fuel costs from last November, has
significantly reduced road freight in recent months. After a series of
blackouts and power rationing throughout China during the peak consumption
periods of 2004 and 2005, the government fast-tracked the construction of a
new series of thermal power plants.
However, in the wake of a nationwide campaign to shut down small, unsafe and
inefficient mines, it is coal and not generation capacity that has become
the biggest problem for the industry.
Power shortages for this year are expected to stand at around 8,000 MW of
capacity, exceeding the record of 6,260 MW set in 2005, China Business News
said.
Thirteen provincial power grids have already imposed restrictions on the
consumption of electricity, with shortages currently amounting to the
equivalent of 6,963 MW, according to the China Electricity Council.
david.stanway@xinhuafinance.com
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