China Announces Plans to Build 50 Coal Gangue Power Plants by 2010

China recently announced plans to build 50 power plants with a total installation capacity of 20 million kilowatts by 2010 through the comprehensive utilization of coal gangue, according to the National Development and Reform Commission's (NDRC) Notices on Related Issues Regarding the Construction of Power Generation Projects by Comprehensive Utilization of Coal Gangue in 2007-2010, which has prompted coal enterprises to raise the standard for the use of the gangue.

According to the report, 23 new projects with a total installation capacity of 18.5 million kilowatts in four regions, in addition to the coal-gangue power plants already under construction, have been arranged to begin construction from now until 2010. Eight of the new projects will add a total installation capacity of 3.7 million kilowatts, including the 300-megawatt Xiwu Jinshan gangue project in northern China's Inner Mongolian region and the two 300 MW Ningdong projects in northwestern China's Ningxia Region, among others.

Coal gangue, a solid waste, is produced from the processes of coal production, washing and selection. Statistics show that more than 200 million metric tons of coal gangue used for power generation are discharged every year in China. A large quantity of stockpiled gangue waste has not only occupied land resources, but it has also caused polluted the environment.

The NDRC's report will play an important role in guiding the preparations for power plants that use gangue, accelerating the use of resources such as gangue with low calorific value while promoting energy conservation and emission reduction in China.

Most of China's gangue power plants owned by coal enterprises are small.