Coal-rich Shanxi eyes greener future

Shanxi, once known primarily as the nation's premier coal-producing heartland, is accelerating its sweeping energy transition while continuing to play a key role in ensuring national energy security, as the resource-rich province actively upgrades its traditional industries and cultivates green productive forces.

This dual mission is central to China's broader climate and economic stability goals, said Liu Zhenmin, China's special envoy for climate change, at the 2026 Taiyuan Energy Low Carbon Development Forum held in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, on Friday.

"China's continuous breakthroughs in new energy technologies and its maturing market have created favorable conditions and set an example for the global low-carbon power transition, especially for developing nations," Liu said.

"Amid international energy market volatility this year, China's diverse energy supply and structure have demonstrated robust resilience, injecting stability into the global market."

With China's coal-fired power generation dropping below 50 percent for the first time in the first half of this year, historically coal-reliant regions are navigating a profound macroeconomic shift.

Liu stressed that Shanxi is indispensable to this transition. Over the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the province produced 6.5 billion metric tons of raw coal — nearly 30 percent of the national total — and supplied 2 billion tons of thermal coal to 24 provincial regions.

Despite this massive legacy, the province is rapidly breaking its path dependency. In 2025, Shanxi's new and clean energy power generation grew by 24.2 percent, and its exported green electricity trading volume jumped by 31.3 percent.

As Shanxi drafts its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), Liu urged the province to maintain coal's foundational regulatory role while proactively exploring alternative industries, proving that short-term risk management and long-term low-carbon development are mutually reinforcing.

National energy officials at the forum echoed this localized progress.

Song Hongkun, deputy head of the National Energy Administration, pointed out that national renewable energy installed capacity reached 2.48 billion kilowatts by the end of July, accounting for over 60 percent of total capacity.

With solar historically surpassing coal and renewables generating 2.5 trillion kilowatt-hours from January to July, Shanxi is leading by example on the ground.

"As the country's first comprehensive reform pilot for the energy revolution, Shanxi is writing a transformative answer sheet, shifting from a 'black coal sea' to a 'green highland'," Song said.

He noted the province leads the nation in smart coal mine construction, is repurposing coal subsidence areas into wind and solar bases, and achieved 10 billion kWh in green power trading in 2025.

To balance decarbonization with strict energy security, Song called for accelerating the deep integration of artificial intelligence with the energy sector, advancing smart microgrids and vehicle-to-grid applications, and forward-deploying frontier technologies like hydrogen, green fuels and controlled nuclear fusion.

Tang Dengjie, secretary of the Communist Party of China Shanxi Provincial Committee, told the forum that the annual event has witnessed the region's profound energy revolution. The province is firmly advancing this transformation by expanding emerging industries like new materials and new energy, he said.

Rather than abandoning its industrial base, Tang noted that Shanxi must rely on its resource endowment to push the coal industry from low-end extraction to high-value, clean and efficient utilization.

By integrating core technological breakthroughs with industrial innovation and harmonizing government guidance with market vitality, Shanxi will build itself into a high-level national energy base, serving the broader construction of an energy-strong nation, Tang said.

Contact the writers at zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn