China's Hubei province says to build coal storage

Published: 28 Jul 2010 22:22:49 PST

SHANGHAI, July 29 - China's central province of Hubei plans to build a state-level coal storage facility with a capacity of 5 million tonnes, the Hubei Department of Commerce said on its website (www.hbdofcom.gov.cn)

The facility, located in the provincial capacity of Wuhan, will store both thermal and metallurgical coal. Central provinces including Hubei have regularly suffered from coal and power shortages.

Wuhan city and Zhong Ping Energy Chemical Group, a large coal producer in the neighbouring province of Henan, plan to invest a total of 800 million yuan in the reserves, the department said.

But it did not give a timeframe for when the project will be completed.

A number of coal storage facilities reportedly are being planned or are under construction in provinces including Shandong and Fujian along the coast, after China vowed to build coal reserves in the wake of severe power shortages in 2008.

These facilities are mostly commercial operations, different from the state reserves for strategic materials such as copper.

Beijing has approved the plan to build five state-level coal storage facilities in central and southwestern regions, to ensure coal supply during natural disasters and emergencies, the statement also said

About three quarters of power is generated by coal-fired power plants in China, the world's largest coal producer and consumer.