Beijing: China urgently needs more coal. The cold snap sweeping across large swathes of the country since Saturday has forced some provinces to ration electricity for industrial use.
By the end of 2009, coal stockpiles in the Central China grid network were sufficient for only 10 days, less than the recommended 15 days, according to official data.
Altogether, China took offline 4,780 megawatts linked to its main network as of January 3, according to data provided by State Grid Corp of China, the country's major grid operator. It accounts for about 0.55 percent of the country's overall capacity at the end of last year.
In early 2008, 7 percent of the coal-fired power generation capacity was shut because severe snowstorms cut transportation of the fuel, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.
Overall electricity consumption rose nearly 6 percent in 2009 to 3,643 billion kilowatt-hours, the National Energy Administration said in a statement on its website yesterday.
Coal-based thermal power plants generate about 90 percent of the country's supply. [07/01/10]
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