Inner Mongolia all in on green energy

North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region is set to facilitate the eco-friendly transformation of its advantageous traditional energy industries amid concerted efforts to exploit its abundant wind and solar resources to advance new energy in the region, said its annual government work report.

As a national coal hub and a region boasting abundant natural resources, it has positioned itself as playing a pivotal role in ensuring China's energy security. Last year, it topped the country in terms of coal supplies, newly increased and total installed capacity of power generation, and that of power generated from new energy resources.

This year, Inner Mongolia aims to bolster its new energy sector even further. The goal is to achieve a substantial investment of 300 billion yuan ($41.76 billion) for the entire new energy industry chain, an additional installed new energy capacity of over 40 million kilowatts, and to maintain its leading position nationwide in both total and newly added new energy capacity, the report said.

Meanwhile, efforts are underway to establish national-level clusters focusing on rare earth materials, a modern coal chemical sector, silicon materials and photovoltaic manufacturing, said the report.

Sun Shaocheng, Party secretary of Inner Mongolia, said as a resource-rich region, Inner Mongolia will steadfastly advance energy-related economic development. Building upon the existing industrial foundation, the region will concurrently develop coal, electricity, oil, gas, wind and solar power, aiming to establish a collaborative, complementary and efficient energy supply system.

"Inner Mongolia boasts abundant new energy resources, with wind and solar energy constituting around 57 percent and 21 percent of the national total, respectively. We are seizing the opportunity (presented by China's green commitment), actively promoting the construction of new energy projects," Sun said.

The efforts of boosting new energy development align with China's goal of achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, which was set in 2020.

"At the same time, traditional energy industries should not be simply labeled as 'low-end industries' and cease operating. Instead, efforts are needed to promote a high-end, intelligent and green transition. Large-scale technological transformation and upgrading projects should be implemented to drive equipment renewal, production process upgrades and digital empowerment, fostering the creation of more low-carbon and zero-carbon industrial parks," Sun said.

In 2023, Inner Mongolia saw coal output of 1.22 billion metric tons and total installed capacity for power generation exceed 200 million kW, supplying energy for 29 provinces nationwide. It also started operating China's largest onshore wind power base, said the report.