Coal-rich Chinese province to accelerate energy industry upgrade

TAIYUAN, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Shanxi, a major coal-producing province in north China, plans to accelerate the intelligent transformation of coal mining and development involving new energy in 2024, the provincial government said on Tuesday.

In 2024, the province will promote green mining technologies and develop 150 new intelligent coal mines, with the aim of elevating the proportion of advanced coal production capacity to 83 percent, according to the government work report released at the annual session of the Shanxi Provincial People's Congress.

It also plans to accelerate the construction of a new energy base in the coal mining subsidence areas of northern Shanxi and actively develop geothermal and biomass energy in a bid to ensure that new energy and clean energy account for 47 percent of the total installed capacity.

An important energy base in north China, Shanxi achieved an annual coal output of nearly 1.38 billion tonnes in 2023 and has developed 118 intelligent coal mines as of 2023.