(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-30 11:52

China will close more small coal-fired power stations in 2008, officials said on Tuesday, to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The goal is to eliminate 13 million kilowatts in such capacity, or about 30 percent more than the target of 10 million kW set last year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

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Last year, China shut 553 small thermal power generators with a total capacity of 14.38 million kW, 44 percent above target.

The State Council, or the Cabinet, has set a target of closing 50 million kW of thermal power capability from 2006 to 2010.

Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice minister of the NDRC, said that the current power shortages in some regions were "absolutely not related to the closure of small coal-fired power stations."

He said that highly efficient, ecologically friendly generators, with a total capacity of 100 million kW, had offset reductions caused by last year's closures.

He said that the shortfall was caused by a combination of increased demand driven up by the adverse weather as well as coal shortages, which had shut power stations with an aggregate capacity of up to 40.99 million kW, or 7 percent of the capacity of China's thermal power plants.

Large thermal power generators, each with a capacity exceeding 50,000 kW, would replace small coal-fired generators to help save 18.8 million tons of coal and avoid emitting 290,000 tons of sulphur dioxide and 37.6 million tons of carbon dioxide every year, according to the commission.

The move showed China's commitment to sustainable development and its latest efforts to face the challenge of climate change as a responsible country, the vice minister said.

The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) said on Monday that coal reserves stood at a little more than 21 million tons, less than half of the normal reserves. Nearly 90 power plants, which accounted for more than 10 percent of the national gross installed capacity, had less than three days of coal reserves.

In addition, the bad weather and rising passenger rail traffic before the Spring Festival, the most important Chinese holiday, have hampered coal transport.

Only an average of less than 25 percent of the daily demand for coal shipment by rail has been met, according to the Ministry of Railways.

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