In the case of China's unique resource endowment, complete "decoalization" is not realistic. However, production and sales in 2021 will show a booming scene. It indicates that the conversion of coal to gas is not only a quick decisive battle, but also a protracted battle.

"The market in the off-season of 2021 has sounded the alarm for everyone. The early warning signals earlier than previous years have left ample preparation time for gas supply companies and local governments to study and judge market demand and formulate gas supply plans. Gas companies and local governments The government shoulders the responsibility of guaranteeing confessions and should plan ahead."

A few days ago, Shandong Province issued the "Province Implementation Plan for Coal-to-Gas Supply of Coal-fired Boilers with 35 Steam Tons/Hour and Below", requiring all relevant departments to do a solid job in converting coal-fired boilers with 35 steam tons/hour and below to gas. Effectively guarantee the supply of gas sources and ensure the completion of the coal-to-gas task by the end of October 2021.

Coincidentally, Hebei Province also recently issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for Public Institutions to Conserve Energy and Resources" to promote central heating and speed up the elimination of surplus coal-fired boilers in public institutions in Zhangjiakou and Chengde. Complete the elimination task.

Throughout the country, provinces such as Guangdong and Hubei have also begun to replace natural gas in self-provided coal-fired power plants and ceramic kilns.

The interviewees all pointed out that under the carbon peak, carbon neutrality target and increasingly strict environmental protection requirements, industrial coal to gas may enter a new round of acceleration. "From the current provincial policies and program planning, the pace of coal-to-gas conversion will be quickened again. However, when implementing the policy goals, do not ignore the issue of whether the local gas supply capacity is matched, so as to avoid the emergence of'over-execution' and tight supply. Passive situation." said Guo Zonghua, former president of Shaanxi Gas Design Institute.

Industrial coal-to-gas conversion "speed up"

In September 2013, the State Council issued the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan", which opened the curtain of industrial coal-to-gas conversion.

Three years ago, Guangdong issued the "Implementation Plan for Guangdong to Win the Blue Sky Defense War (2018-2020)", and proposed that by 2020, major cities in the Pearl River Delta would need to complete the clean energy transformation of coal-fired boilers below 35 steam tons/hour (Guangzhou’s 65 steam Ton/hour or less), the cities in western Guangdong, northern Guangdong, and eastern Guangdong need to complete clean energy transformation of coal-fired boilers below 10 steam ton/hour. Among them, industrial kilns and boilers, especially ceramic kilns, are the focus of Guangdong’s “change of coal to gas”, involving more than 1,000 production lines. Subsequently, industrial users in Guangdong started drastically changing coal to gas.

Today, Shandong's plan to phase out coal-fired boilers is equally vigorous and covers a wide range. Before the end of October, Shandong plans to phase out 383 coal-fired boilers of 35 steam tons/hour and below, and the province will no longer build various types of coal-fired boilers below 35 steam tons/hour. According to preliminary statistics, among the coal-fired boilers included in the elimination plan in the whole province, there are a total of 89 boilers to be converted from coal to gas. Among them, there are 17 units in Qingdao, 2 units in Zaozhuang, 8 units in Dongying, 17 units in Yantai, 9 units in Weifang, 7 units in Tai'an, 18 units in Weihai, 3 units in Rizhao, 5 units in Linyi and 3 units in Heze.

As a key area of the "2+26" Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei air pollution transmission channel, Hebei Province is also "unwilling to be left behind" and has made specific arrangements for the coal-to-gas project for coal-fired boilers.

"Under the dual constraints of increasingly stringent environmental protection policies and carbon peaking and carbon neutral goals, it is an inevitable development process from eliminating coal-fired boilers to promote natural gas utilization to gradually banning the sale of fuel vehicles." Guo Zonghua said.

“It is worthy of recognition that while the boiler’s coal-to-gas conversion has increased the thermal efficiency by about 20%, it has also reduced overall pollutant emissions and can effectively improve the environment. By reducing desulfurization and denitrification devices, eliminating coal-fired slag, etc., equipment maintenance is reduced. And labor costs also bring a greater contribution to economic benefits." Guo Zonghua added, "From the perspective of China's current clean energy supply and actual use efficiency, natural gas is still the most suitable and the most effective transitional energy."

Guo Jiaofeng, a researcher at the Research Institute of Resources and Environmental Policy of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that the accelerated process of industrial coal-to-gas conversion will further increase the natural gas consumption in the industrial sector, which will stimulate the national natural gas demand and also put pressure on supply. "It still depends on the specific place. From the perspective of supply channels, Guangdong and the Yangtze River Delta have little impact, and the pressure to ensure supply is not too great. Other regions should consider local conditions as appropriate and proceed in an orderly and rational manner." Guo Jiaofeng emphasized.

Watch out for mismatches between supply and demand

An industry veteran who declined to be named pointed out that although the overall benefits of coal-to-gas conversion are obvious, the actual value-added benefits of specific users vary from region to industry. Therefore, industrial coal-to-gas conversion should be promoted in an orderly and focused manner. Seek the optimal development strategy based on the industry.

“The conversion of coal to gas is more suitable for industries with large coal consumption, high financial affordability, and low natural gas permeability, which will bring higher added value.” The senior person said, “Industrial coal to gas should also be considered in different regions. The compatibility with natural gas applications, the supply of gas sources, and the cost of transformation, these factors determine the scope of promotion and economy. At the same time, supporting policies and facilities in various regions are also important considerations for the implementation of coal-to-gas conversion."

In the eyes of the above-mentioned industry veterans, the Yangtze River Delta, North China and South China, which are economically developed, have great market potential, and are rich in gas sources, are key areas for promoting industrial coal to gas conversion. "Guangdong is a large traditional gas-fired power generation province, Qinghai and Sichuan have advantages in gas sources, and Eastern China has developed economies and is suitable for promoting coal-to-gas conversion." Although Shandong is a coastal province and is located in Eastern China, the construction of LNG receiving stations is not in place, so large-scale progress It is a bit'irrational' to change the boiler from coal to gas. "

“Shandong is a big province of electric power. At present, there are no gas generating units, and there is no perfect natural gas price mechanism and peak shaving mechanism. Although the apparent natural gas consumption exceeded 20 billion cubic meters last year, the output was only about 200 million cubic meters. Very big.” The above-mentioned industry insiders said that as the winter heating season approaches, Shandong needs to speed up the solution of the gas source problem, and start preparations from now on to strengthen cooperation with major gas source companies to ensure supply. At the same time, step up the construction of LNG receiving stations, and consider the development of LNG tank storage for emergency use.

The reporter learned that not only Shandong, but also China's current natural gas pipeline mileage and interconnectivity are still insufficient, coupled with lagging gas storage facilities and weak peak shaving capacity, it is still a big challenge for winter gas supply. "The supply situation this winter may be more tense than in previous years." The senior person said.

Emergency plan for gas supply needs to be put in place as soon as possible

The growth rate of China's natural gas consumption is significantly higher than the growth rate of natural gas production, and the gap in natural gas consumption has gradually increased.

Guo Jiaofeng pointed out that if there is no adequate emergency plan this winter, the phenomenon of local gas supply shortage in 2017 may repeat itself.

Insiders believe that the implementation of the coal-to-gas policy will bring positive benefits to economic development, making it an "additive" environmental policy. However, we must be alert to the fact that all provinces and cities have overfulfilled the coal-to-gas mission goals, causing a "gas shortage" and causing serious livelihood problems that are not desirable in winter. Environmental policies should give priority to the matching of policy objectives and resources, and carry out comprehensive policy design in advance to solve the one-way connection between policy input and output in the past, and avoid accidents caused by policy over-implementation.

"Fortunately, the market in the off-season in 2021 has sounded the alarm for everyone. The early warning signals earlier than previous years have left more time for gas supply companies and local governments to study and judge market demand and plan gas supply plans. Gas companies and local governments The government shoulders the responsibility of guaranteeing the confession, and it should also plan ahead." Guo Jiaofeng said.

Keywords: engineering news, engineering construction information

The interviewees all pointed out that in the future, on the basis of meeting clean utilization standards, based on local resource endowments, economic strength, infrastructure, and residents' consumption capacity, the overall utilization of natural gas, electricity, geothermal, biomass, solar energy, industrial waste heat, etc. All kinds of clean energy, take multiple measures to promote the transition of clean energy. Editor/Sang Xiaomei