Xinjiang to contribute 20% of China’s coal production

Northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will produce one billion tons of coal annually by 2020, accounting for at least 20% of the nation’s total, according to a state plan. To achieve the 2020 goal, it needs to increase coal output by 80 million tons per year. The sources said China planned to have a total installed capacity of 1.6 billion kilowatts (kw) by 2020, much more than the current 600 million kw. It plans to launch in the autonomous region large coal-firing power and coal-based chemical projects and a base of oil production with coal as raw materials. From now up to 2015, Lu’an Mining will invest 46 billion yuan (US$6.2 billion) in these projects, company sources said. (October 22, 2007)