Construction Begins on Eight Energy and Chemical Projects in Northwestern China

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A ceremony was held December 15 in Yinchuan, the capital of northwestern China's Ningxia Autonomous Region, to mark the beginning of construction has begun on the large-scale Ningdong coal, power and chemical base. Work on eight energy and chemical projects totaling $5.8 billion has begun, making the endeavor the largest of its type in China's history of energy-related construction projects.

The projects comprise the Hongliu, Maiduoshan and Shicaocun coal-mining projects with a total designed annual production capacity of 22 million metric tons; the Lingwu, Shuidonggou and Yuanyanghu pithead coal-fired power plants with a total installed capacity of 4,400 megawatts (MW); a 1,335-kilometer ±660 DC transmission project from Ningdong (East Ningxia) to Shandong province; and a 60,000-ton polyformaldehyde resin project.

The polyformaldehyde project will be one of the largest in China. The Lingwu project will have one of the first 1,000 MW-air-cooled ultra-supercritical coal-fired units in the world. The Ningdong-Shandong transmission project will be the first ±660 DC transmission demonstration project in China, which could transmit 4,000 MW of power from Ningxia to Shandong upon completion.

Ningxia is an important coal producer in China with proven reserves of more than 30 billion metric tons. The reserve in Ningdong coalfield is 27.3 billion metric tons, accounting for 87% of the total resources in Ningxia. East Ningxia also benefits from having plenty of water, as well as transportation and environment capacity for the development of a large coal, power and chemical base in the region.

According to the Plan, by the end of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, Ningdong's annual coal output will surpass 70 million metric tons. The installed capacity of thermal power will surpass 6,000 MW, and the total output of coal-chemical products will surpass 6 million metric tons. By 2020, the region's annual coal output will reach 100 million metric tons. The installed capacity of thermal power will reach 16,000 MW (including 6,000 MW for transregional transmission), and the total output of coal-chemical products will surpass 20 million metric tons.

The projects are expected to begin operation around 2011.

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