中文
China's coal production is likely to continue rising this year, but its rate of growth is forecast to retreat due to higher requirements for cleaner energy, while coal consumption is also expected to sustain moderate growth, according to a report released by the International Energy Security Research Center at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on October 15.
Coal will continue to serve as China's primary energy source in the near future, considering its resource endowment and energy security, according to the Blue Book of World Energy – Annual Development Report on World Energy 2023.
Coal supply would maintain an upward trajectory this year under the requirement of developing economy and energy security amid the country's energy structure adjustments.
China produced 3.05 billion tonnes of raw coal in the first eight months this year, growing 3.4% year on year. That accounted for 67.86% of the total output of close to 4.5 billion tonnes last year, which increased 9.0% from 2021.
Although wind and solar power have experienced rapid growth, their absolute contributions have remained temporarily unstable and limited. While the proportion of electricity generated from coal has gradually decreased, coal-fired power generation has consistently increased year over year, owing to its mainstay role in China's power system, the report said.
China is expected to continue to optimize and expand its advanced coal production capabilities and steadily promote production of existing coal mines and construction of approved new mines. More efforts will be made to the sustained growth and production efficiency, especially in large-scale mines in key coal-producing areas such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Guizhou.
In the meantime, imported coal will further play a positive role in supplementing the domestic coal market, according to the report. China imported a total 347.65 million tonnes of coal in the first nine months this year, surging 73.1% on the year, the latest customs data showed, with the September import at 42.14 million tonnes, down from a record high of 44.33 million tonnes in August.
Coal demand is likely to maintain moderate growth, with demand from some major consuming industries like steel and building materials expected to abate as the country promotes a green transition in its development.
China's economy is expected to see a recovery in 2023, driving increased pace of growth in electricity consumption compared with 2022, the report said.
Assuming normal weather patterns, the nation's total electricity consumption is estimated to reach around 9,150 TWh in 2023, up about 6% compared with 2022, showed forecast of the report.
(Writing by Emma Yang Editing by Harry Huo)
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