Gansu turns to Xinjiang and Ningxia for coal

Gansu will buy power coal from Xinjiang and Ningxia, to ensure supply to power plants inside the province.

To meet demand during the traditional consumption peak, main power generating companies at Gansu started their pre-winter buying in advance.

Coal inventory at power plants dropped from 2.28 million tonnes on Nov 1 to 1.77 million tonnes as of Nov 23, because Gansu has provided 50 million kWh electricity each day for areas outside the province since the start of this winter, said an insider from the provincial Industry and Information Technology Committee.

Gansu has reached agreement with Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to bring in large amounts of coal from Xinjiang via railways, and the tight supply of power coal is likely to ease in December.