Coal chemical industry should be "stabilized"

Business News Agency August 17 News China Investment Advisor Energy Industry Researcher Zhou Xiujie: Since 2006, the state has issued five policy documents regulating the development of the coal chemical industry, and one is more rigorous than the other, but the effect is not obvious. For example, on July 14, 2006, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the “Circular on Strengthening the Construction Management of Coal Chemical Industry Projects to Promote the Healthy Development of Industries”, which clearly stipulates that “coal oil production projects with a scale of 3 million tons or less should not be generally approved. Coal-to-methanol and dimethyl ether projects below 10,000 tons, and coal-to-olefins projects below 600,000 tons; no consolidation, violation approval, or gradual decentralization of approval authority. However, in reality, projects for making methanol and dimethyl ether from coal below 1 million tons have never been stopped or even approved for construction. This eventually led to a serious excess of methanol and dimethyl ether production capacity. As another example, in August 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission’s “Notice on Regulating Matters Related to the Development of the Coal-based Natural Gas Industry” pointed out that local governments at all levels must not arbitrarily approve or file coal-based natural gas projects. For projects that have already been filed and approved, local development and reform commissions should Serious screenings and cleanups are strictly prohibited, and construction of projects that do not have the resources, technology, funds, and other conditions is strictly prohibited. However, in fact, since the fourth quarter of last year, coal-based natural gas projects that have been approved and started construction have been increasing. For example, on April 12 this year, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Notice on Regulating the Orderly Development of the Coal Chemical Industry", which clearly defined the coal chemical industry access standards for the first time. However, after the state issued the "Notice", there are still coal chemical projects that do not meet the standards. Whether or not the "Coal Deep Processing Demonstration Project Plan" to be issued within the year will be able to manage the enthusiasm of the local coal chemical industry, it is hard to say now.

Tian Yuanyu, vice president of the School of Chemical Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology: As a capital and technology-intensive industry, coal chemical industry projects can cost hundreds of millions of yuan, several billion yuan, and even billions of yuan in investment. Once the industry layout is improper, it will Caused great losses. In many places, there have been cases of industry failures caused by technical line mistakes. Therefore, we must carefully select the entry point for the industry.

Du Minghua, an expert in advanced energy technologies in the 863 Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology: China's coal reserves are only relatively rich in terms of relative oil and gas, and the average per capita coal resources are only 60% of the world average. Electricity is the most important secondary energy source in China, and coal-fired electricity is the main source of electricity. In 2009, coal-fired power accounted for 80% of China's installed capacity, and annual coal consumption was about 1.5 billion tons, accounting for about half of the country’s total primary energy consumption. . Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively balance the efficiency of resource development, investment, and cost, and give priority to ensure long-term supply of coal and form a reasonable industrial layout. Coal-producing areas near coal consumption are not suitable for the large-scale development of new-type coal chemical industries; coal-rich remote areas have high coal transportation costs, water resources are guaranteed, and ecological environmental capacity permits, and coal chemical industry parks can be appropriately constructed.

Zhu Hongjun, Director of the Raw Materials Industry Division of Ningxia Economic and Credit Commission: Although there are many coal chemical projects in various parts of China, China's coal chemical technology and equipment are heavily imported from foreign countries, and China has become a testing ground for the world's coal chemical technology. In addition to not mastering core technologies, China is also faced with difficulties in the regulation and control of coal chemical projects. The new coal chemical industry is mainly an oil substitute product. In order to occupy the commanding heights and occupy coal mine resources, the new coal chemical industry is naturally sought after by investors. However, due to the lack of unified planning, various regions in China are currently rushing on a large number of energy and chemical projects, resulting in highly similar industrial layout. With the increasingly fierce competition, repeated competition, and repeated construction, some areas have even experienced the phenomenon of spurious coal chemical projects to seize coal resources. How to scientifically develop coal chemical industry has become the top priority for China to adjust its energy development strategy. Coal chemical industry has high technical content and high investment intensity, and it is an industry with high energy consumption, high pollution, and high water consumption. If blindly planning and low-level redundant construction, it is likely to bring about waste of resources, environmental pollution, increased economic operation risks, etc. As a result, we must plan scientifically and develop steadily.

Fang Junshi, Director of the Coal Division of the National Energy Administration, said that during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, coal chemical industry is still in the demonstration stage, and there is still another process for large-scale promotion. Nowadays, the oil resources in the world are still very rich, and how the conversion effect of coal is yet to be demonstrated, and the economic nature of using coal to replace petroleum is yet to be evaluated. It is not easy to say to what extent the existing "12th Five-Year Plan" coal chemical project such as coal-to-liquids can be developed. What companies need to do now is to prepare for the early stage.