China Energy/Power Technology, Strategic Layout of Resources: News & Discussions

[TaiShang]

 

[TaiShang]

China to Take Leadership Position on Energy Storage in East Asia-Pacific Region, World Bank Says
January 25, 2017
By Jennifer Delony

China likely will become the largest energy storage market in the East Asia & Pacific region, with a potential to install about 9 GW of utility-scale and behind-the-meter systems in 2025, according to the World Bank.

Emerging markets in the East Asian & Pacific face urgent power supply issues, and face significant challenges in developing energy storage. Those challenges, according to the report, include low electrification, an underdeveloped power grid infrastructure, and a lack of capital to underwrite new technologies to advance power grid services.

Outside of the developed markets of Japan, South Korea, Australia, there are currently 28,610 MW of energy storage systems deployed in East Asia & Pacific, the report said.

In South Asia, there have been very few energy storage market developments outside of India, and deployments are expected to be limited over the coming decade.

The Promise of Latin America

The report said that Latin America is one of the most attractive emerging markets for energy storage development, as the market moves to install significant amounts of solar and wind by 2020. There is about 1 GW of energy storage capacity installed in the region, mostly coming from pumped storage hydro in Argentina, according to the report.

“The battery energy storage market has been gaining traction, with three large-scale systems commissioned in Chile and El Salvador over the past three years, developed by AES Energy Storage and Altairnano, accounting for 42 MW of capacity,” the report said. “The regional pipeline of storage projects continues to grow with a diverse set of technologies, including battery, compressed air, flywheel, pumped storage, and thermal energy storage projects.”

 

[ahojunk]

China to close outdated coal mines, boost clean energy in 2017
2017-02-18 08:34XinhuaEditor: Wang Fan

China plans to shut down at least 500 outdated coal mines and use more clean fuel in 2017, the country's top energy watchdog said Friday.

The closure of outdated coal mines should lead to a capacity reduction of 50 million tonnes, according to guidelines released by the National Energy Administration (NEA).

The guidelines targeted 3.65 billion tonnes of coal output for 2017, noting that coal should account for about 60 percent of China's total energy consumption. The proportion stood at 64 percent in 2015.

The world's largest coal producer and consumer is now committed to slashing coal capacity as excessive supply weighs on its economy and smog pollutes big cities.

Friday's guidelines also set goals of capping national energy consumption at around 4.4 billion tonnes of coal equivalent and reducing energy use per unit of GDP by 5 percent.

The NEA said the ratio of non-fossil energy use to the total consumption should rise to about 14.3 percent, up from 13.3 percent in 2016.

It specified plans to build more hydropower, wind power and solar power plants this year.

For nuclear power, 6.41 million kilowatts of installed capacity will be added through the completion of new projects, the NEA said.

The Chinese government aims to reduce the share of coal in the country's energy mix to 58 percent by 2020 and increase the share of non-fossil fuels to over 15 percent.

 

[ahojunk]

Chinese official pledges safe development of nuclear energy
Source: Xinhua 2017-02-14 23:22:06


BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) - A Chinese atomic energy official said the country will fine tune its nuclear energy safety standards, develop its emergency response system and improve the management of spent fuel.

Wang Yiren, vice head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, told Xinhua that during the 13th Five Year period (2016-2020), China will undertake a number of nuclear-related projects.

Research into the processing of spent fuel will be conducted, according to Wang, who is also deputy head of China Atomic Energy Authority.

In response to concerns over the safety of inland nuclear power projects, Wang said such worries are understandable, but assured that the projects would be secure.

As energy demands in inland regions have increased, the need for inland nuclear power projects has increased, he said.

Wang said the authorities have also organized expert discussions on the construction of nuclear power stations at sea, to support offshore oil and gas exploitation and the country's islands.

The official also pledged efforts to ensure the supply of uranium resources and nuclear fuel for nuclear energy development.

 

[ahojunk]

More than half of Beijing's household waste to produce energy
2017-02-18 09:50 | Xinhua | Editor: Wang Fan

Beijing municipal government has set a goal of converting 57 percent of the city's household waste into energy.

This waste-to-energy conversion will be carried out at six garbage treatment plants to be opened this year, according to Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Management.

Commission director Sun Xinjun said Friday that the commission's priority this year is to encourage residents to create less waste, improve waste sorting and boost waste-to-energy conversion.

The most common conversion process generates electricity or heat directly through combustion, while some also use industrial processing to produce combustible fuels like methane and ethanol. This supplies energy and reduces carbon emissions.

With 21.7 million permanent residents, Beijing's massive amount of household waste has a profound impact on the environment. Beijing aims to raise its garbage treatment capacity to 30,000 tonnes a day by 2020 -- 24,000 tonnes being incinerated while the rest will undergo biological treatment. No untreated waste will be buried.

Lin Jinwen, another official with the commission, said Beijing will reduce waste sorting bins from three categories to two. One will be labeled "kitchen waste" with the other for the rest of household waste. The bins labeled "recyclable" will no longer be displayed to avoid confusion.

Lin said the city will distribute guidebooks and host training to help the public sort their daily garbage. As the campaign starts, there will even be helpers assigned to stand by community trash bins to help confused residents.

Waste sorting bins will spread from residential communities to companies, government offices, shopping malls and other public venues in the next few years.

 

[ahojunk]

Chinese power plant becomes world's largest fossil fuel power plant
By Sun Wenyu (People's Daily Online) 16:45, February 27, 2017

Togtoh Power Plant in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region officially became the world's largest operating fossil fuel power plant after two of its 660MW ultra-super critical units were put into service, said China Datang Corporation, parent company of the power plant.

Currently, the plant has a total capacity of 6,720MW.

Located near a major coal field, the plant is able to convert about 17 million tons of coal into clean energy each year. The plant generated 339 billion kWH during 2016, or 30 percent of the total energy demand in Beijing.

Thanks to an increased focus on environmental protection, the company has successfully achieved ultra-low emissions. Ten of the plant's generating units had been denitrated by July 2014, cutting 40,200 tons of nitrogen dioxide emissions. In addition, the plant plans to perform denitration on 10 more units in the future.

 

[艹艹艹]

http://www.ctpost.com/news/world/ar...for-3rd-year-in-a-10964495.php#photo-12460900
China's coal consumption falls for 3rd year in a row
Louise Watt, Associated Press
Updated 2:10 am, Tuesday, February 28, 2017

FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2015 file photo, smoke and steam rise from the smokestack of a coal-fired power plant near Ordos in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. According to official data released National Bureau of Statistics said the consumption of coal, a major source of heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions, fell by 4.7 percent last year, according to preliminary calculations.


The bureau said the share of coal in China's total energy consumption mix fell to 62 percent in 2016 from 64 percent the year before. A revised figure in the China Energy Statistical Yearbook put the 2015 figure at 63.7 percent, but Tuesday's report referenced the preliminary figures reported last year.

While China is the world's biggest consumer of coal, its consumption levels have dropped as economic growth slows to its lowest level since 1990. With its major cities gripped by choking air pollution, China has also aimed to reduce coal usage in favor of natural gas and renewable energy including hydro, wind and solar power.

Directives in January from the National Energy Administration ordered the cancellation of about 100 coal-fired power plants planned across the country. Construction had already started on some.

As the world's second-largest economy, China is the top emitter of man-made carbon dioxide emissions, with the globe's leading economy, the United States, in second place.

China's tackling of climate change in collaboration with the United States under President Barack Obama was touted by Beijing and Washington as a bright spot in a relationship beset by trade and security tensions. Crucially, the two countries joined last year to endorse the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change.

That limited partnership has now grown uncertain under new President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a Chinese hoax and pledged to reverse Obama's efforts to curb emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Trump said during his campaign that he would "cancel" the Paris Agreement and withdraw American tax dollars from U.N. global warming programs.

Greenpeace said an analysis of data from the National Energy Administration showed an expected "significant drop" in China's CO2 emissions of 1 percent this year, in what it said would be the fourth consecutive year of zero growth or a decline.

The decline "reinforces China's growing status as a global climate leader, and sends a strong signal to U.S. President Trump that his dirty energy agenda will send the American economy in the wrong direction," Greenpeace said.

Lauri Myllyvirta, senior coal campaigner for Greenpeace, said China's stable and falling carbon emissions have "completely revolutionized the prospects for bringing global emissions and bringing climate change under control."

"The two reasons why global emissions have been stable for the past three years are no growth in China and rapid fall in emissions in the U.S., so that really shows what can be accomplished when these two countries work together," Myllyvirta said.

China's decline in coal use, however, did not signal an overall drop in energy consumption. The country's total use of energy rose by the equivalent of 4.36 billion tons of standard coal, an increase of 1.4 percent over the previous year, the statistics bureau said. Consumption of crude oil increased by 5.5 percent and natural gas by 8 percent, the bureau said. Overall consumption of electricity from all sources rose by 5 percent, it said.

Consumption of renewable sources accounted for 19.7 percent of the total energy mix, up 1.7 percent from the year before. While solar and wind power are growing more prominent, most renewable energy comes from dams whose environmental impact is beginning to draw more attention. China has suspended approvals for new hydroelectric projects in the mountainous southwestern province of Yunnan following concerns about the impact on the local ecosystem.

Meanwhile, production of coal fell by 9 percent to 3.41 billion tons last year. China has for years been closing smaller, less efficient and more dangerous coal mines in a bid to boost productivity in the sector.

 

[TaiShang]

For reference:

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/chin...use-and-co2-emissions-fall-once-again.480897/

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Coal's decline looking like trend
China Daily, March 1, 2017

Coal is loaded for railway transportation in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo/Xinhua]

The decline of China's coal usage may have become a long-term trend, according to experts, after official data on Tuesday showed that coal burning in 2016 dropped for the third consecutive year. Coal consumption, a major source for carbon dioxide emissions, dropped by 4.7 percent in 2016, the biggest year-on-year decline since 2014, according to the annual Statistical Communique on Economic and Social Development, released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative for climate change, told China Daily in January that he believed China would fulfill its carbon emission pledges "on time", but it might be too early to say the nation has accomplished its goal.

China is aiming to reach a peak in its carbon dioxide emissions around 2030, according to pledges it made in the landmark UN Paris climate agreement, which came into force last year.

Although the government has yet to make any official announcement, experts and economists expect the trend will continue, leading to carbon emissions peaking earlier than expected.

The former administrator of the Chinese National Energy Administration, Zhang Guobao, wrote in July that coal consumption has peaked, adding that it should be announced publicly.

Fossil fuel demand would naturally shrink after the nation's economy begins to rely more on the service sector, whose energy consumption and pollution levels are lower, according to Hu Angang, an economics professor at Tsinghua University.

Hu said the decline is irreversible, as the nation puts more emphasis on environmental protection. He noted that China accomplished its first year's goal on time, as set out in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

A total of 10 major environmental targets have been set in the plan, in areas such as energy consumption per unit of GDP and emission levels of CO2 per unit of GDP.

China failed to accomplish its yearly goals on time during the previous five-year plan, according to Hu.

Lin Boqiang, head of China Institute for Energy Policy Studies at Xiamen University, said the energy system would continue to decarbonize, and the share of coal in China's energy mix will shrink.

Coal's share has fallen to 62 percent in 2016 from 64 percent in 2015, and the nation produced 9 percent less coal in 2016 than in 2015, the communique said.

Yang Fuqiang, a senior analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said fossil fuels will continue play a large role in order to achieve economic goals, and coal consumption would shrink at a slower pace.

 

[TaiShang]

Russia's Gazprom to start supplying gas to China in 2019
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-03-16

The headquarters of Gazprom is seen on June 27, 2014, the day of the annual general meeting of the company's shareholders in Moscow. [Photo/Agencies]

Russian gas giant Gazprom said the company plans to supply gas to China via the east route of the China-Russia natural gas pipeline as early as May 2019, rather than 2018 as scheduled, 21st Century Business Herald reported Thursday, citing the company's Vice-President Andrey Kruglov.

He said the delay was because it took almost a year to get all the necessary approvals after a deal was signed in May 2014. He added that discussions on the west route have advanced to a mature stage.

According to the contract signed under the witness of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the east route of the pipeline will transport 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year to China over a period of 30 years starting from 2018.

Kruglov said the amount of gas expected to be transported to China might match, or even exceed, east route's 38 billion cubic meters as the gas field in West Siberia could supply more.

Natural gas consumption in China is projected to reach 360 billion cubic meters, accounting for 10 percent of the entire energy mix, up from six percent in 2014, according to 21st Century Business Herald.

The Asia-Pacific, which is becoming more and more important, is of strategic importance to Gazprom, said Kruglov.

He added that the company's Asian investors have doubled in the past four year.

Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation's cooperation on such a large gas project has laid a solid foundation, including in the financial sector, for the company in the Asia-Pacific, said Kruglov.

He said the company might offer shares in an Asia stock market and added that the company has been in talks with the Hong Kong Exchanges for some time.

 

[JSCh]

CAP1400 reactor vessel passes pressure tests
22 March 2017

Hydraulic pressure testing has been completed on the reactor pressure vessel for the demonstration CAP1400 unit to be built at Shidaowan in China's Shandong province.

The demonstration CAP1400 reactor vessel (Image: SNPTC)​

The vessel - with a total weight of about 487 tonnes - underwent a two-stage hydraulic pressure test to confirm the integrity of its welds and seals. The tests were witnessed by officials from China's regulator, the National Nuclear Safety Administration; reactor designer, the Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI); and the manufacturer of the vessel, China First Heavy Machinery Group.

The first stage of the tests involved raising the pressure within the vessel to 21.5 megapascals (MPa) and maintaining it at that pressure for 10 minutes to check the integrity of the vessel. The pressure was then lowered to 17.2 MPa - the design pressure for the vessel - and the O-ring seals were then checked for leaks both internally and externally. The tests were successfully completed on 17 March.

The CAP1400 is an enlarged version of the AP1000 pressurized water reactor developed from the Westinghouse original by State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC), with consulting input from the Toshiba-owned company. As one of China's 16 strategic projects under its National Science and Technology Development Plan, the CAP1400 is intended to be deployed in large numbers across the country. The reactor design may also be exported.

In May 2016, the CAP1400 design successfully passed the International Atomic Energy Agency's Generic Reactor Safety Review. This review is not a clearance process but a review of the quality of the safety documents identifying strengths, weaknesses and gaps.

International use of the CAP1400 is still dependent on meeting country-specific standards and requirements, but passing the IAEA safety review will make this process easier.

Site preparation is already underway for two demonstration CAP1400 units at Huaneng Group's Shidaowan site in Shandong province. The pouring of first concrete is expected to take place soon.

Huaneng Group's Shidaowan site is part of a larger Rongcheng Nuclear Power Industrial Park, at which two prototype 105 MWe HTR-PM small modular reactors are already under construction.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News


CAP1400 reactor vessel passes pressure tests

 

[ahojunk]

Two State-Owned Nuclear Companies to Consolidate
By Coco Feng, Sun Wenjing and Huang Kaixi
Mar 20, 2017 08:38 PM

Chinese technicians lay cables on a nuclear reactor at the Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Plant in Fangchenggang, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Jan. 16, 2015. China National Nuclear Corp. and China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Corp., two of China's largest nuclear companies, plan to merge. Photo: IC

(Beijing) — Two of China's largest state-owned nuclear companies plan to merge, joining the consolidation tide that has swept through state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in several sectors.

China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Corp. (CNEC) are working on “strategic recombination plans,” which then need to be approved by the central government. Two listed companies owned by CNNC and another listed by CNEC announced the planned merger over the weekend.

The consolidation will be among the two groups, which will not affect the assets and the trading of the three listed companies, a spokesperson of Shanghai-listed China Nuclear Engineering Corp. Ltd., a subsidiary of CNEC, told Caixin.

Once approved, as expected, it will be another major merger between state-owned enterprises. The merger would follow the landmark naissances of train maker CRRC Corp. Ltd. in 2015, formed by CSR and CNR, and steel giant China Baowu Steel Group in 2016, formerly separately operating as Baosteel Group and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group.

Mergers have taken place in other sectors, including tourism and construction materials. In 2016, five pairs of SOEs started the process. The wave of mergers aims to improve efficiency and boost chances of the merged companies expanding successfully overseas.

Most of the earlier consolidations were among rivals. In contrast, CNNC and CNEC have little overlap in business: CNNC specializes in nuclear power generation and new-energy sources, while CNEC provides construction services for nuclear and national defense projects.

Rumors about the deal have circulated for some time, especially after former CNEC Chairman Wang Shoujun became the chairman of CNNC in December.

The two companies were siblings of an old China National Nuclear Corp., which spun off the construction department to form CNEC in 1999, and reorganized with some administrative bodies to evolve into the new CNNC at the same time.

Wang said at a news conference earlier this month that Chinese nuclear companies should unite if they are to export technology, implying the consolidation.

China currently operates 37 nuclear reactors, which supply 3% of the country’s total power use, and is cooperating with other countries in projects overseas. For example, the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in southwest England is being built by a Sino-French consortium led by China General Nuclear Power Group and French energy group EDF.

Both CNNC and CNEC have approached Saudi Arabia for collaboration. Last Thursday, CNNC signed agreement to prospect radioactive resources in nine patches in Saudi Arabia in two years. In January 2016, CNEC tied with the Middle East country for high-temperature gas-cooled reactor projects.

Following the nuclear merger, another much-awaited one — between China State Shipbuilding Corp. and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. — can be expected, as the two firms have different business focuses and were originated from the same company, just like CNNC and CNEC, said Si Jingzhe, analyst with Sinolink Securities.

Contact reporter Coco Feng (renkefeng@caixin.com)

 

[Shotgunner51]

Two State-Owned Nuclear Companies to Consolidate
By Coco Feng, Sun Wenjing and Huang Kaixi
Mar 20, 2017 08:38 PM

View attachment 387058
Chinese technicians lay cables on a nuclear reactor at the Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Plant in Fangchenggang, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Jan. 16, 2015. China National Nuclear Corp. and China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Corp., two of China's largest nuclear companies, plan to merge. Photo: IC

(Beijing) — Two of China's largest state-owned nuclear companies plan to merge, joining the consolidation tide that has swept through state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in several sectors.

China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Corp. (CNEC) are working on “strategic recombination plans,” which then need to be approved by the central government. Two listed companies owned by CNNC and another listed by CNEC announced the planned merger over the weekend.

The consolidation will be among the two groups, which will not affect the assets and the trading of the three listed companies, a spokesperson of Shanghai-listed China Nuclear Engineering Corp. Ltd., a subsidiary of CNEC, told Caixin.

Once approved, as expected, it will be another major merger between state-owned enterprises. The merger would follow the landmark naissances of train maker CRRC Corp. Ltd. in 2015, formed by CSR and CNR, and steel giant China Baowu Steel Group in 2016, formerly separately operating as Baosteel Group and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group.

Mergers have taken place in other sectors, including tourism and construction materials. In 2016, five pairs of SOEs started the process. The wave of mergers aims to improve efficiency and boost chances of the merged companies expanding successfully overseas.

Most of the earlier consolidations were among rivals. In contrast, CNNC and CNEC have little overlap in business: CNNC specializes in nuclear power generation and new-energy sources, while CNEC provides construction services for nuclear and national defense projects.

Rumors about the deal have circulated for some time, especially after former CNEC Chairman Wang Shoujun became the chairman of CNNC in December.

The two companies were siblings of an old China National Nuclear Corp., which spun off the construction department to form CNEC in 1999, and reorganized with some administrative bodies to evolve into the new CNNC at the same time.

Wang said at a news conference earlier this month that Chinese nuclear companies should unite if they are to export technology, implying the consolidation.

China currently operates 37 nuclear reactors, which supply 3% of the country’s total power use, and is cooperating with other countries in projects overseas. For example, the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in southwest England is being built by a Sino-French consortium led by China General Nuclear Power Group and French energy group EDF.

Both CNNC and CNEC have approached Saudi Arabia for collaboration. Last Thursday, CNNC signed agreement to prospect radioactive resources in nine patches in Saudi Arabia in two years. In January 2016, CNEC tied with the Middle East country for high-temperature gas-cooled reactor projects.

Following the nuclear merger, another much-awaited one — between China State Shipbuilding Corp. and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. — can be expected, as the two firms have different business focuses and were originated from the same company, just like CNNC and CNEC, said Si Jingzhe, analyst with Sinolink Securities.

Contact reporter Coco Feng (renkefeng@caixin.com)

Good news, M&A is the direction to go, the goal is to have less but bigger corporations.

 

[TaiShang]

Sino-Myanmar oil pipeline launch a good signal: experts
By Cao Siqi, Shan Jie (Global Times) 08:10, March 28, 2017

A refinery project in Yunnan province which will be part of the Sino-Myanmar oil pipeline (File photo)

China should ask Myanmar to protect pipeline, workers: analyst

The launch of the Sino-Myanmar oil pipeline following a two-year delay could be the Myanmar government's way of sending a positive signal ahead of its president's visit to China in April, Chinese experts said.

The project to pump oil 770 kilometers across Myanmar to Southwest China is set to begin, Reuters reported, citing Aung Myat Soe, deputy director of planning under the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, as saying that the project was awaiting a final go-ahead from the Minister of Electricity and Energy.

Major issues, including transport tariffs and Myanmar's tax take on the oil, have been settled, but port fees have yet to be finalized, a Myanmar-based industry source familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that "the two sides are working to finalize the terms and sign the contract," and "the time that the deal would be sealed could be in a couple of days or early April."

"The possible start-up of the oil pipeline shows the Myanmar government attaches great importance to cooperating with China. It may be a 'gift' of the Myanmar president to China during his visit, intended to enhance cooperation in other fields," Zhu Zhenming, a deputy director of the Southeast Asia Research Institute affiliated with the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

The new government wishes to strengthen economic ties with China to promote development in the "special economic zone," such as the Kyaukpyu project, said Zhu, adding that both Myanmar and China will benefit from the pipeline project.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the pipeline contractor and operator, declined to comment on Monday when reached by the Global Times.

The refinery project in Yunnan is awaiting operation. Based on the plan, the project will process half of the crude oil from the pipeline and generate 13 million tons of oil every year.

Ding Kebei, deputy manager of the company's office in Yunnan, told the media in November 2016 that the project will begin operations in 2017, and that final negotiations with the Myanmar government were underway.

Caijing magazine reported that China will pay $13.6 million to Myanmar every year, with the Myanmar government expected to earn $1 for each ton of transported crude oil.

Several National People's Congress deputies have also called for the construction of roads and railways connecting Southwest China's Yunnan Province to the port of Kyaukpyu in Myanmar, saying that road construction, especially the section outside of China, is a bottleneck in China's strategic plan of opening a trade route to the Indian Ocean.

Bottlenecks

In 2005, CNPC signed a deal with the Myanmar government for the purchase of natural gas over a 30-year period. Three years later, China and Myanmar agreed to build a $1.5 billion oil pipeline and a $1.04 billion natural gas pipeline.

The oil and natural gas pipelines run in parallel and start near Kyaukpyu and enter China at the border city of Ruili, Yunnan province. The 2,806-kilometer-long natural gas pipeline, running from Kunming, Yunnan to Southwest China's Guizhou Province and South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, went into full operation in October 2013 and has transferred 3.4 billion cubic meters of gas to a gas branch company as of October 2016.

However, the oil pipeline, which will allow China to import oil via the Bay of Bengal and has a capacity of 22 million tons of crude oil per year, has been sitting empty for two years.

Experts warned that safety remains a key issue.

"Construction was suspended due to a misunderstanding with the Myanmar public as well as armed clashes. If the project starts, the Chinese government should push the Myanmar government to protect the pipeline and workers along the line," Liu Yun, an analyst on Myanmar issues, told the Global Times on Monday.

 

[TaiShang]

Chinese scientists explore all-weather solar cells
Xinhua | Updated: 2017-04-03

A photovoltaic revolution is taking place with the emergence of all-weather solar cells, according to a Chinese scientist.

"Solar cell research is mainly focused on elevating photoelectric conversion efficiency upon direct sunlight until new light has been shed on persistent high-efficiency power generation in poor light conditions such as rain, fog, haze and night," said Tang Qunwei, a professor with Ocean University of China.

Tang's team and one led by Yang Peizhi, a professor with Yunnan Normal University, developed a solar cell using a crucial material called long persistent phosphor (LPP), which can store sunlight energy in the day and harvest it in darkness.

"Only partially visible light can be absorbed by light absorbers and then converted into electricity. But solar energy from unabsorbed visible and near-infrared light can be stored in LPP, releasing monochromatic visible light at night,' Tang said. "The released light is re-absorbed by light absorbers to convert it into electricity, realizing persistent power generation in the day and in the dark."

The work of Tang and Yang was recently published in an academic journal published by the American Chemistry Society, ACS Nano, and the publication Nano Energy.

Tang has published in Chemistry - A European Journal, where he wrote that the physical proof of all-weather solar cells would open the door for an upcoming photovoltaic revolution.

"All-weather solar cells could indicate that the global solar industry will bring down the cost of energy harvesting," Tang said.

 

[TaiShang]

Construction starts on world's highest power transmission
Xinhua, April 6, 2017
Construction started Thursday on the world's highest power transmission project in southwest China's Tibet Region.

The 16.2 billion yuan (US$2.35 billion) project includes the construction or upgrade of 16 110-kv substations and transmission lines, with a total length of 2,738 km. The average altitude is 3,750 meters, with the biggest altitude gap of 494 meters between two adjacent transmission towers.

The project also includes power supply facilities for the railway between Lhasa, the regional capital, and Nyingchi. The Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet railway began construction in December 2014.

Shu Yinbiao, chairman of the State Grid, said the project would ensure stable power supply and assist with the transmission of Tibet's clean energy to other places.

Currently, the backbone grids in Tibet are not all interconnected, resulting in unstable operation.

The complicated grid project will be completed in 2018.

From 2011 to 2015, the State Grid spent 27 billion yuan building key power projects, connecting Tibet's grids to those of Sichuan and Qinghai provinces and enabling 480,000 people in Tibet to have power.