China has sufficient energy supply for Spring Festival holiday: official

BEIJING - China has sufficient energy supply and management mechanisms to help cope with peaks in energy use amid cold waves and the Spring Festival holiday, a senior official said Friday.

With natural gas reserve capacity exceeding 32 billion cubic meters, China has 20 billion cubic meters of gas storage available at present, halfway through the heating season, Lian Weiliang, deputy director with the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference.

The country's government-deployable coal reserve stands at about 50 million tonnes, while coal storage in power plants remains at a high level of about 175 million tonnes, which is enough to meet energy needs during peak periods, Lian added.

This winter has seen lower temperatures and less precipitation than in normal years, which could lead to higher demand for energy and disruption of transportation, according to Zhang Zuqiang, deputy director of the China Meteorological Administration.

Zhang said that three cold waves are expected to hit China during the Spring Festival holiday in late January.

"Even in extreme cases, when residents' energy needs exceed expectations, we can activate the emergency plan to prioritize residential energy use to ensure that the people's livelihoods are not affected," Lian said.

Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on Jan 22 this year.