The mining area has a large number of other resources such as land, wind, and light. It has the inherent advantages of developing new energy. It can fully build the coal area into a clean energy base that integrates ground-underground wind, light, electricity, heat, and gas. However, from the coal industry to the new energy business, it is actually a transition from a resource-dependent industry to a technology-driven and market-competitive industry. How to transform the advantages of traditional coal companies into the advantages of developing clean energy is worth exploring.

Recently, Inner Mongolia Huolinhe Open-pit Coal Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "open-pit coal industry") issued 8 announcements in a row, announcing the acquisition of 100% of Shaanxi China Nuclear Photovoltaic Power Co., Ltd. to invest in the construction of a 100,000-kilowatt wind power project in China Nuclear Power Chunhua. Nine new energy companies were registered through sole proprietorship, joint ventures, etc., involving the development and construction of 1.1 million kilowatts of new energy projects. The massive cross-border move has aroused common concern in the fields of coal and new energy.

Cross-border development

In the newly announced list of China's top 50 coal companies in 2021, the open-pit coal industry ranks 28th, with an annual output of about 46 million tons of coal. According to its performance forecast for the first half of the year, from January to June 2021, the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 1,142,715,300 yuan to 1,386,529,900 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0% to 30%. has seen an increase". In other words, coal is still the main support of the company's performance.

On the one hand, the status quo of the industry with coal as the core is on the other hand, while on the other is the continuous expansion of the new energy sector. The announcement shows that the open-pit coal industry intends to acquire 100% of the shares of Shaanxi China Nuclear Power for 189,800 yuan, and continue to develop and construct Chunhua China Nuclear Power's 100,000-kilowatt wind power project. The project is located in the loess plateau area in the northwest of Chunhua County, Xianyang City. It is planned to install 28 wind turbines with a single unit capacity of 3,600 kilowatts. It has been approved by the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission and related land use approvals. "The acquisition of the project company this time is in line with the company's actual business needs and is conducive to the development of the construction company's new energy business." The open-pit coal industry said.

The company also announced that it plans to register and establish 2 wholly-owned subsidiaries and 7 joint ventures. The partners include China Reinvestment (Jilin) New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Zhonglai Smart New Energy Co., Ltd. and many other new energy-related companies . The newly established company will develop and construct a total of 650,000 kilowatts of photovoltaic projects and 350,000 kilowatts of wind power projects in Chaoyang, Liaoning, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, and Shuangliao, Jilin. According to statistics from Essence Securities, the open-pit coal industry has been deploying new energy power generation projects since 2014, and the current scale has reached 3.3685 million kilowatts. After the above new projects are implemented, the installed capacity of new energy power generation will reach 32.65%, which will effectively supplement the profitability of the traditional sector.

"The Group's coal production and sales, thermal power generation, coal-to-liquid and coal chemical industries are the largest in the world. In 2019, 80.5% of the profits came from these sectors, and coal accounted for 49% of the profit." Related National Energy Group The person said frankly, “At present, the group’s installed capacity of renewable energy accounts for less than 30%. Increasing the development of wind and solar energy is one of the main paths for low-carbon development. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, it plans to increase installed capacity of 70-80 million kilowatts. ."

Yongtai Energy, a privately-owned listed company whose three main businesses are electric power, coal and petrochemicals, announced earlier that its wholly-owned company Huayuan New Energy Co., Ltd. and Three Gorges Power Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement to establish photovoltaic, wind power, and storage The main direction of Neng, etc. is to "accelerate the company's deployment in the new energy field, realize the company's new energy development strategy and green and low-carbon development, and take a solid step for the company to strive for new energy business to exceed existing traditional energy business within ten years."

"In the past many years, coal companies have had a weak foundation for the development of new energy, and they have no motivation or determination. The carbon peak and carbon neutral goals have forced coal companies to take the initiative to develop new energy and enter the main position of new energy." Academician Xie Heping of the Chinese Academy of Engineering It seems that the coal industry is ushering in "the opportunity to seize the main position of new energy."

Xie Heping gave an example. In addition to coal, the mining area also has a large amount of land, wind, light and other resources, which have inherent advantages in the development of new energy. “China’s existing and future coal mining subsidence areas are expected to exceed 60,000 square kilometers, which can provide land resources for the deep coupling of coal-fired power generation and wind and solar power generation. The large gap between coal mines and tunnels can be used for pumped water storage. Renewable energy peak shaving. The underground temperature is high and stable, and geothermal development and utilization technology can be developed. The advantages can be fully utilized to build the coal mine area into a clean energy base with integrated wind, light, electricity, heat and gas on the ground and underground ."

Many industry insiders further stated that traditional coal companies' cross-border new energy is nothing new, but under the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the layout speed has been significantly accelerated. “Cooperating with new energy companies has become a major trend in the industrial transformation of coal companies. Powerful companies such as the National Energy Group have also set up their own professional investment companies to invest the money earned from'selling coal' into clean energy projects. In the process of construction and development, sustainable development will be realized.” said Peng Peng, secretary general of China New Energy Power Investment and Financing Alliance.

Coal companies are increasingly supporting the establishment of joint ventures, project layout, and technological development. Many coal mines have resources such as land and power generation indicators, which is an advantage that many new energy companies cannot achieve. “Through the reuse of abandoned mine land, the demand for land space for photovoltaic power stations can be met. Datong photovoltaic leaders are typical projects. However, at this stage, the number of new energy projects deployed by coal companies is generally relatively low, with regard to personnel, management, etc. There is not enough experience in this respect."

A person from a coal company who did not want to be named confirmed to reporters that due to the failure of the internal staff structure to be adjusted reasonably and the lack of matching with industrial development, the lack of new energy professionals has become a major factor restricting the transformation of the company. Yongtai Energy also said that the specific plan for the transition to the new energy field is still being studied and determined, and relevant professionals and technologies have not yet been fully equipped and reserved. "The transformation of new energy is a challenge to the company's formation of talents and management. The new energy field has a high technical content and rapid technological update and upgrade. Technological innovation and upgrading will pose challenges to the company, which may result in the transformation and upgrading less than expected."

Keywords: new energy, engineering construction, engineering news, engineering construction information

"From the coal industry to the new energy business, it is actually a transition from a resource-dependent industry to a technology-driven and market-competitive industry. It is not just about having funds and resources, only relying on administrative power or doing a few projects." Said that how to transform the financial strength, financing capacity, asset reserves and other resources of traditional coal companies into the advantages of developing clean energy and break the constraints from institutional mechanisms and traditional concepts are crucial in the transformation process.Editor/XuNing