"Natural Gas Utilization Policy" started to be implemented in December

It was learned from the National Development and Reform Commission on December 3 that the “Natural Gas Utilization Policy” began to be implemented starting this month. According to the New Deal, China will relax its natural gas power generation policy, natural gas power generation projects will be included in the permitted category, and natural gas cogeneration will be included in the priority utilization sequence. According to industry analysis, the New Deal cleared the obstacles for natural gas power generation. With the continuous increase of natural gas production in China, natural gas power generation is expected to usher in a period of rapid development in the future.

The newly released natural gas utilization policy classifies natural gas users in China as priority, allowable, restricted, and prohibited. In addition to the construction of base gas power generation projects (prohibited), coalbed methane power generation projects (encouragement) and natural gas cogeneration projects (encouragement) in 13 large coal bases such as Shaanxi, Mongolia, Shanxi, and Hebei, natural gas power generation The projects belong to the permitted category, which was defined as a restricted category in the 2007 Natural Gas Utilization Policy.

Lin Boqiang, director of the China Energy Economic Research Center at Xiamen University, said that changing natural gas power generation from restricted to permitted types indicates that the government supports natural gas power generation. In fact, natural gas power generation has the advantages of flexible operation and no pollution compared with traditional thermal power. Previously, natural gas power generation was limited due to the low natural gas production in China. With the continuous increase of natural gas production in China, natural gas power generation is expected to usher in a period of rapid development in the future.