BIZCHINA / Top Biz News

Three coal-fired power plants to be built
By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-16 08:51

Most of the electricity produced from the three plants will be transmitted to northern area comprising Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan in Hebei Province.

The latter is a growing industrial base that the government has promised to support.

"Only a small proportion is going to be consumed domestically in Mongolia," the first source said.

Chinese firms are eyeing the easy availability of coal in Mongolia, which is cheaper than in China, the first source said. "As a result, electricity will be cheaper," he said.

Mongolia currently has a power generating capacity of 770 MW and coal reserves of 150 billion tons, official statistics show.

Besides Mongolia, both SGCC officials said they are also studying the possibility of importing electricity from Russia and Kazakhstan.

SGCC is currently carrying out preparatory work relating to transmitting electricity from Russia's own power plants to Northeast China, Liu Zhaoshao said.

"We are also talking with the Russians about participating in building transmission lines," he told reporters.

SGCC wants to quadruple electricity imports from Russia to 18 billion kilowatt hours by 2010, Zheng Baosen, the firm's executive vice-president, said in March.

Power projects in Kazakhstan may move slower than those in Russia and Mongolia, said the first source, without elaborating. The company is also studying similar project in other neighbouring countries, such as Kirghizstan, he added.


Page: 12

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)