Energy is a pillar industry of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), Ningxia intends to build itself into a hub for West-to-East power transmission, West-to-East gas pipeline transmission and distribution, and regional coal storage and transportation.
It will further improve its energy opening-up and cooperation, and give full play to the role of the national clean energy base of the Yellow River.
Officials at the press conference of the Fifth China-Arab States Expo [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]
West-to-East Power Transmission Grid Hub
Ningdong county in Ningxia is the coal power base of the north passage of the West-to-East Power Transmission project. It has built the world's first ±660 kV DC transmission channel from Ningdong to East China's Shandong province, the Ningdong-Zhejiang ±800 kV DC transmission channel, and the Shanghaimiao-Shandong ±800 kV DC transmission channel, with a total DC transmission capacity of 14 million kilowatts. In 2020, the scale of external power transmission was 66.6 billion kWh, accounting for 40 percent of the region's power generation.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Ningxia will focus on new energy and build a ±800 kV ultra-high-voltage (UHV) DC transmission project from Ningxia to Central China. It aims to expand the development of new energy and the scale of power exports, and to create a win-win cooperation model of transmission of green power from west to east. By 2025, the DC power export capacity will be lifted to 20 million kilowatts, and a West-to-East Power Transmission grid hub will be built.
Yang Ruijun, deputy director of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission, outlined Ningxia's energy opening-up and cooperation situation at a press conference on August 15. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]
West-to-East Gas Pipeline Transmission and Distribution Hub
Zhongwei city in Ningxia is the convergence point of several national trunk gas transmission lines, including West-East Gas Pipelines 1, 2, and 3, the Zhongwei-Guiyang Line, and the Zhongwei-Jingbian Line. Domestic gas sources, Central Asian gas sources and China-Myanmar gas sources have been deployed in Ningxia.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Ningxia will accelerate the construction of the third and fourth lines of the West-East Gas Pipeline project, boost interconnection of natural gas in the region, and strengthen gas storage capacity. It will speed up cooperation with China National Petroleum Corporation and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) in the field of natural gas exploration and development. By 2025, the length of the long-distance natural gas pipelines in the region is expected to reach 2,500 kilometers, and the natural gas supply to reach 5 billion cubic meters.
Regional Coal Storage and Transportation Hub
To transform its resource advantages into economic advantages, Ningxia has successively built a large number of clean coal conversion projects with advanced technology, heavy investment and significant driving force, which include the world’s largest coal indirect liquefaction plant, the world's largest coal-to-polypropylene project, and the world's first one-million-kilowatt air-cooling system attached to an ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plant.
The autonomous region has become a national thermal power base for the West-to-East Power Transmission project, a modern coal chemical industry demonstration area, and a concentration area of regional coal consumption.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Ningxia will build an energy (coal) logistics trading center, a coal logistics storage and transportation base, and a coal transportation channel connecting it with the coal resource-rich areas of the Yellow River Basin. It will strive to enhance the static coal reserve capacity by importing Mongolian coal via special railway lines. As of 2025, the static coal reserve capacity of the whole region is expected to reach 3 million tons per year, and a regional coal storage and transportation hub will be built.
Ningxia will continue to strengthen strategic cooperation with large domestic energy companies, and attract more national energy strategy projects. The autonomous region will be deeply engaged in the Belt and Road Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Action Plan, launch international technology exchanges and cooperation in the energy field, and support competitive enterprises in the region as they participate in international energy cooperative development and industrial park construction. In addition, it will actively introduce large international enterprise groups for construction of clean energy projects, and drive international energy cooperation into higher and broader fields.
