All lights on despite scorching weather

Responding to challenges

Several State-owned and private enterprises have proactively ensured power supplies.

Coal companies have ramped up extraction of high-quality coal while maintaining safety measures and streamlining coal transport.

At Hudong Station in Datong, Shanxi province, coal-laden trains, each weighing 20,000 metric tons, depart roughly every 12 minutes. This station is a pivot alongside the Daqin Railway, China's first heavy-duty coal rail line. It transports fossil fuels from the coal-rich provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, to cities in need.

Alongside the railway are several coal enterprises that have stepped up production to ensure supplies. At a mine in north Shanxi, operated under ChinaCoal Pingshuo Group, a fleet of 15 heavy-duty electric excavators and hundreds of 200 to 300-ton self-unloading trucks are at work. The estimated production volume of the mine for July was 2.9 million tons, marking what would be the mine's highest output since it began operations.

During the first half, its parent company, China National Coal Group Corp's coal output touched 120 million tons, a year-on-year growth of 5.6 percent. The group's sales volume stood at 170 million tons, a 7.3 percent yearly increase.

CHN Energy Investment Group, the country's largest coal producer, recorded about 300 million tons of coal production and 410 million tons in sales during the first half.

Coal companies are producing more, and power plants scattered across regions are stepping up coal purchases to bolster inventories.

According to the NDRC, as of late July, the country's coal reserves in grid-dispatched power plants stood at 198 million tons, an increase of over 23 million tons from the same period last year, enough for nearly 26 days of use.

Sufficient coal supply has proved to be a strong support for power generators to work at full capacity.

As of June 26, the 234 power generation units at State Power Investment Corp Ltd, one of the largest power generation groups in the country, were reportedly running at maximum capacity to increase electricity supply.

In Hubei province, a unit of a coal-fired power generator under energy group China Three Gorges Corp, passed 168 hours during a trial run operating at full capacity by mid-July.

China Huadian Corp Ltd's Sichuan branch saw its seven 2.8-million-kW units of fossil fuel generators start operations in early June, with a daily peak electricity output of 87 million kWh.

Best results

The efforts have yielded substantial results in ensuring power supplies.

In the first half, CHN Energy reported historic highs in total power generation of 571.1 billion kWh. China Huadian said its coal-fired power generation grew 10.3 percent year-on-year to 252.6 billion kWh in the same period. China National Coal Group's power generation hit 41.1 billion kWh in the first six months, 15.3 billion kWh more than last year.

While coal-fired power continues to play a crucial role in stable energy supplies, renewable energy has further solidified its position as the primary driver of new power capacity in China this year. Its role in safeguarding energy supplies and promoting a clean, low-carbon transformation is becoming increasingly prominent.

"Since the beginning of this year, CHN Energy has initiated the construction of 8.54 million kW of new energy power generation facilities, of which 5.52 million kW have started operations, both achieving first-half historic highs. Photovoltaic installations have surpassed 20 million kW for the first time, and wind power installations have reached around 54.91 million kW, including over 4 million kW of offshore wind power," said Huang Qing, spokesperson of CHN Energy.

In mid-July, the world's first 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine was connected to the grid and started operations in Fujian province, marking the largest in terms of capacity globally. The turbine generates over 66 million kWh of "green electricity" annually, which is enough to power the annual energy needs of 36,000 three-person households. This is equivalent to saving around 22,000 tons of standard coal per year.

Meanwhile, timely water storage measures have ensured hydropower capacity to meet electricity demand during peak times despite the challenge of reduced water flows in Southwest China.

On July 11 and 12, hydropower generation capacity set records, exceeding 32 million kW, playing a crucial role in maintaining stable power supplies during peak periods, the NDRC said.

In order to mitigate the intermittent, random, and fluctuating nature of new energy sources and strengthen their role in ensuring power supplies, the National Energy Administration has launched various measures, said Liu Mingyang, an NEA official.

These include improving the accuracy of forecasts for new energy power generation, establishing an appropriate proportion of energy storage facilities, and promoting the integrated use of wind, solar, hydro and thermal energy sources, Liu said.

In addition to bolstering supply efforts, power grid enterprises are enhancing dispatch mechanisms and increasing investments in grid construction and improvement.

State Grid Corp of China, whose grid network covers around 88 percent of the country's area, said it has accelerated the progress of 239 key projects for peak summer demand and stepped up efforts for daily equipment checks and maintenance.

China Southern Power Grid, serving five provinces and municipalities in the south including Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hainan, as well as Hong Kong and Macao, said these areas have faced rising electricity demand due to high temperatures. They have implemented 16 measures to ensure power supplies and conducted annual checks on 13 direct-current projects.

At a conference in July, Ou of the NDRC highlighted the importance of optimizing grid resources and utilizing cross-province transmission channels to achieve efficient interprovincial electricity exchange and accurate load management.

Ensuring adequate power supplies involves both short-term and long-term strategies. In the short- to medium-term, coal-fired power will serve as a cornerstone to ensure power supply stability, while pumped storage hydropower can address needs in peak time, said Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University.

Over the long term, new energy will play a more important role in power supplies, Lin said.

"Coal-fired power will serve as a foundational and flexible power source in certain periods, especially during extreme climate events, without compromising China's achievement of decarbonization goals or energy structure optimization. There are also innovative decarbonization measures being promoted in this area," he said.

"Moreover, although the installed capacity of coal-fired power continues to rise, the utilization hours are gradually decreasing. New energy sources, while volatile and intermittent, can be transformed into stable power sources by implementing extensive pumped hydro storage and new types of energy storage facilities for peak shaving and valley filling to optimize grid systems," Lin said.