Electricity peak is approaching, coal supply will remain high

Entering June, the temperature across the country has risen significantly, and the resumption of production and work in various places has accelerated, and the peak of electricity consumption is coming
.
How is the electricity supply and demand situation this summer? Can the energy supply keep up?

The reporter of "Economic Information Daily" learned from research and interviews that the coal supply will remain high during the peak summer season, and the supply and demand of electricity and coal will remain in a "tight balance" state as a whole, and there may be tensions in some regions
.
In this regard, from the central government to local governments to enterprises, various parties have made early plans, early deployments, and early actions, and adopted a package of measures to improve supply guarantee capabilities and stabilize energy prices
.

Peak summer supply and demand "tight balance"

"A deep understanding of the arduousness and complexity of the task of ensuring power supply, a deep understanding of the weak links in safe production and power supply services, and a deep understanding of the severe challenges brought about by extreme weather.
.
.
" Xin Baoan, chairman of State Grid Corporation of China, said on June 7 This was said at the 2022 peak summer power supply guarantee video conference
.

A reporter from the "Economic Information Daily" noted that the latest data shows that the electricity consumption situation in many places has continued to improve since May
.
For example, the electricity consumption of the whole society in Yunnan increased by about 17% year-on-year in May, and the electricity consumption of the whole society in Shenyang, Liaoning increased by 15.
8% month-on-month
.

"Since late May, the temperature across the country has risen significantly, and as the domestic epidemic situation has improved significantly, the resumption of work and production in various regions has accelerated
.
From June, local economic stabilization policies and measures will gradually be implemented and effective, which will help China's economy return to normal track.
, the demand for electricity and coal will increase
.
" Shi Ying, vice chairman of the China Coal Transportation and Marketing Association, said in an interview with the "Economic Information Daily" reporter
.

It is reported that June to September is the peak electricity consumption period in the summer
.
The China Electricity Council expects that during the peak summer period, the national electricity supply and demand will be generally balanced, and the electricity supply and demand will be tight during peak hours
.
Among them, the power supply and demand in the Northeast and Northwest regions are basically balanced; the power supply and demand in the South, East China, Central China and North China regions are tight during peak hours
.

The judgment of "tight balance" also appeared in related meetings held in many provinces recently
.
Meng Gang, director of the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said at a recent press conference that this year, due to the international situation, supply and demand relations, etc.
, the price of energy resources has been tight and high.
The biggest shortfall of electricity in peak summer is 6.
5-7.
5 million kilowatts
.

According to the forecast of Henan Electric Power Company, the power security situation in Henan Province is still severe and complicated during the peak summer season, and the overall state of "tight balance" is maintained.
Among them, the highest load growth in Zhumadian and Xinyang is expected to exceed 20%
.

Multi-party moves to prevent power outages

Faced with the complex and severe energy supply situation at home and abroad, all parties have made every effort to ensure power supply and prevent power cuts from happening again
.

State Grid Corporation of China announced 30 key points of work to ensure power supply during peak summer, requiring to ensure the safety of the power grid during the summer and ensure safe power supply
.
Xin Baoan emphasized that it is necessary to strengthen the linkage between government and enterprises, and exert efforts in multiple directions from issuance, supply and use
.
It is necessary to promote the integration of various power sources, increase and stabilize the supply, strict scheduling discipline, give full play to the role of the power grid in allocating resources, and implement the requirements of "prioritizing demand response, ensuring orderly electricity consumption, and saving electricity to assist"
.

Many places are also making every effort to meet the peak summer power supply
.
For example, Zhejiang has formulated a key plan for ensuring power supply and proposed ten key actions
.
Meng Gang said that through the synergy between supply and demand, it will increase the peak guarantee capacity of 9.
5 million kilowatts, ensure the overall balance of power supply and demand, ensure the safe and stable operation of the power grid, ensure reliable power supply for residents and enterprises for production and life, and never experience power outages
.
At the same time, it guides and urges enterprises to sign annual contracts for thermal coal and natural gas as soon as possible, to ensure that the province's thermal coal inventory will increase to more than 5.
5 million tons by the end of June, and to ensure the safety of gas supply for production and living
.
In addition, further standardize the transaction order of the electricity market, strengthen the supervision of electricity sales companies, coordinate upstream resource parties, stabilize energy prices, and help enterprises reduce costs and burdens
.

"There is a solid foundation for ensuring power supply during the peak summer season this year
.
" Zhao Chenxin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said recently that as of the end of April, the national installed power generation capacity reached 2.
41 billion kilowatts, and it will continue to increase before the peak summer season.
The total is expected to increase to 2.
45 billion kilowatts
.
This year, the inflow of water from major river basins is better than expected.
As of mid-May, the national hydropower generation has increased by 19.
3% year-on-year, and the amount of water that can be generated by key hydropower plants has increased by 25.
5% year-on-year
.
At present, the coal storage in the power plants under the national unified regulation has reached more than 159 million tons, an increase of more than 50 million tons year-on-year, and the available days are 32 days.
"We are confident and capable of ensuring a stable and orderly summer for the national power peak season
.
"

Coal supply will remain high

The stable and orderly supply of coal is very important to ensure the supply of electricity during peak summer
.
According to the deployment of the executive meeting of the State Council, this year will increase coal production capacity by 300 million tons through measures such as increase in production capacity, expansion of production, and new production
.
From January to April, the output of raw coal increased by 10.
5% year-on-year, maintaining rapid double-digit growth for four consecutive months, and the average daily output reached the highest level in history
.

"From the perspective of resources, the main coal producing areas still have a certain potential to increase production
.
" Shi Ying said that the main coal-producing provinces and regions such as Shanxi, Shaanxi and Mongolia have successively introduced implementation plans for increasing coal production and ensuring supply.
It is expected that during the peak summer this year, domestic coal production will increase The rapid growth will be maintained, coal supply and demand will be balanced in general, and coal for power generation and people's livelihood will be effectively guaranteed
.

While increasing supply, measures have been taken to stabilize coal prices in the past month
.
Since May 1, the policy of improving the coal price formation mechanism has been formally implemented.
The National Development and Reform Commission has continuously voiced and asked all localities to increase supervision and implementation.
At present, Shanxi and other places have clarified the reasonable range of coal medium and long-term transaction prices and spot prices
.

However, the reporter of "Economic Information Daily" investigated and interviewed many power plants and learned that coal procurement in some areas is still tight, there is a gap in the full coverage of medium and long-term coal contracts, the medium and long-term coal price mechanism has not been fully implemented, and coal prices remain high
.

Shi Ying also confirmed this statement
.
She said that there are still structural and regional imbalances between supply and demand in China's coal market, and the impact of uncertain factors such as the epidemic situation, imported inflation, Russia-Ukraine conflict, and downward pressure on the economy cannot be ruled out.
Due to the localized tight supply and demand of coal, coal prices may remain high
.

Liu Manping, a researcher and senior economist at the Price Monitoring Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, suggested strengthening the assessment and urging the main coal producing areas to actively promote the coal mines with the potential to increase production to release advanced production capacity under the premise of ensuring safe production
.
At the same time, further refine the work related to stabilizing energy prices, and guide coal prices to remain within a reasonable range
.