February 6, 2013 (Source: China Briefing) — As part of China’s efforts to curb energy consumption and foster greener growth, the State Council released the “12th Five-Year Plan for Energy Development (guofa [2013] No. 2, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Plan’)” on January 1, 2013. The Plan summarizes China’s major achievements in energy development during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006 to 2010) and sets out key development objectives for the industry during the 12th Five-Year Plan. Detailed information can be found below.
Major achievements during the 11th Five-Year Plan
According to the Plan, major achievements of the country’s energy development during the 11th Five-Year Plan period include:
- National output of primary energy reaching 2.97 billion tons of standard coal in 2010, ranking first in the world for the fifth consecutive year
- The scale of installed electricity generation capacity reached 970 million kilowatts in 2010, ranking first in the world
- Nuclear power under construction reached 20.9 million kilowatts in 2010, taking up more than 40 percent of nuclear power under construction worldwide
- Energy consumption per unit of GDP decreased by 19.1 percent
Key development goals during 12th Five-Year Plan
Energy Consumption Efficiency
- Total energy consumption will be capped at 4 billion tons of standard coal by 2015
- Total electricity consumption will be capped at 6.15 trillion kilowatt-hours by 2015
- Energy consumption per unit of GDP will be cut by 16 percent compared with 2010 levels
- Overall energy efficiency will be raised by 38 percent by 2015
Energy Production and Supply Capacity
The supply of primary energy will reach 4.30 billion tons of standard coal in 2015, among which domestic supply shall take up 3.66 billion tons of standard coal.
Optimization of Energy Structure
The proportion of non-fossil energy consumption will be increased to 11.4 percent of primary energy consumption by 2015, with natural gas accounting for 7.5 percent.
Construction of National Energy Bases
The five major energy production areas, namely Shanxi Province, the Erdos Basin, eastern Inner Mongolia, Southwest China, and Xinjiang are expected to realize overall energy production capacity of 2.66 billion tons of standard coal in 2015, accounting for more than 70 percent of the country’s total capacity.
