China shut down 553 small thermal power generators in 2007, with
a total capacity of 14.38 million kilowatts, or 44 percent above
the annual goal, the National Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC) said on Monday.
Closing down small thermal power plants is part of the nation's
energy saving and pollution reduction efforts. The State Council,
or cabinet, set the annual goal of shutting down 10 million
kilowatts thermal power capacity at the beginning of 2007, which
had been achieved by October 26, 2007.
On average, these closed generators have a single-set capacity
of 26,000 kilowatts and have been operating for 28 years.
After shutting down the obsolete facilities, large thermal power
generators (single-set capacity exceeds 50,000 kilowatts) will take
the place of generating power. The large-scale facilities will help
the country save 18.8 million tons of coal consumption and avoid
emitting 290 thousand tons of sulphur dioxide and 37.6 million tons
of carbon dioxide every year, according to an official with
NDRC.
Shangdong, Henan, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanxi are the top five
provincial regions in this shut-down drive -- having closed 6.7
million kilowatts thermal power capacity, accounting for 46.6
percent of the total.
China's top five power enterprises, local investment
corporations and local state-owned enterprises made the
overwhelming majority of the efforts by shutting down 256 thermal
power generators, or 10.5 million kilowatts in capacity, accounting
for 73.1 percent of the total, while the remaining 26.9 percent
came from private enterprises.
NDRC is a macro-economic management agency under China's State
Council, which formulates polices and guides the overall economic
system restructuring.
(Xinhua News Agency January 2, 2008)
