China has urged the country’s five major power utilities to accelerate transfer of 40 coal-fired power plants in the northwest of the country, according to a document issued by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC).
The move is a part of the country’s economic restructuring campaign to mainstream heavy industry and follows Beijing’s longstanding efforts to reduce debt and shed coal-fired power capacity by one third in two years.
The key agenda of the plan is ‘One central enterprise and one province’ which means that in the Northwest province of Gansu, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Ningxia, there will be only one state-owned power company to avoid competition. Also, these key five utilities will have the right to choose or dispose of any of the 40 plants transferred to them.
The five power utilities comprise:
- China Huaneng Group
- China Datang Corp
- China Huadian Corp
- State Power Investment Corp (SPIC)
- China Energy Group
The 40 plants account for 32.7 GW of the capacity and the transfer is scheduled to be completed before 30 June 2020.
According to the plan, 14 power plants totalling 12.62 GW currently owned by Datang, Huadian, SPIC and China Energy in Gansu province will be transferred to Huaneng Group, 8 coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 9.08 GW in Shaanxi province owned by Huaneng, Huadian, and SPIC will be transferred to Datang Group
13 utilities totaling 6.29 GW in Xinjiang province will be transferred to Huadian Corp, while 2 plants in Qinghai province and three plants in Ningxia province, with a combined capacity of 1.36 GW and 3.34 GW, respectively, will be transferred to SPIC and China Energy.
While the transfer of 40 plants is the first phase of the ambitious restructuring plan, more transfers are expected in the near future.
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