BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's 13th Five-Year Plan for energy development has been endorsed by the State Energy Commission and is expected to be implemented soon, according to information from a recent forum on transformation of the energy industry held here last week.
Meanwhile, the work on the 14 special plans for the energy sector by the National Energy Administration is proceeding as scheduled, with the plans for electric power, hydropower, wind power, coalbed methane and biomass energy already implemented, three plans for renewable energy and natural gas expected to be released soon, and five other plans for solar power anticipated to be released before the end of this year, according to the forum.
From 2016-2020, clean and low-carbon energy would account for the bulk of the increased energy supply in China, said Li Yangzhe, deputy head of the National Energy Administration.
During the five years, the ratio of coal consumption to the country’s total energy consumption would be lowered to less than 58 percent, while the ratio of non-fossil energy and natural gas would be raised to 15 percent and 10 percent, respectively. The total increase in the supply of non-fossil energy and natural gas would be equivalent to 480 million tonnes of standard coal.
To meet the target, China would have to vigorously develop non-fossil energy and promote clean and efficient use of fossil energy, said Li.
Under the plans, China aims to put into operation 30 million kw of nuclear power capacity and commence construction of another 30 million kw in the five-year period, with total installed capacity hitting 58 million kw in 2020. Additionally, the installed capacity of hydropower will reach 340 million kw by the end of 2020.
In terms of natural gas, the major task is to expand the consumption market, with focus on replacing coal in the fields of domestic use, industrial production and transportation and rapidly develop natural gas distributed energy and regulating power station.
Li admitted that relatively high retail prices have been a hurdle to the expansion of natural gas consumption, adding relevant authorities are working to find solutions, including straightening out the pricing mechanism, to solve the problem.
In the next step, said Li, China would stick to market-oriented reform so as to mobilize all positive factors in oil and gas exploration and exploitation, including the introduction of bidding system and social capital into the field. (Edited by Li Xiaohui, lixh@xinhua.org)
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