"Economic Daily" interviewed Sun Shaocheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Director of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress: Do a solid job in the modern energy economy

On December 3, 2023, the first page of the Economic Daily published "Doing a Solid Job in the Modern Energy Economy - Interview with Sun Shaocheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Director of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress", on how Inner Mongolia can implement the important instructions and requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping and plan the layout of the "modern energy economy article", Sun Shaocheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Director of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, was interviewed by a reporter from the Economic Daily.

Do a solid job in the modern energy economy

-- Interview with Sun Shaocheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Reporter:General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly proposed to Inner Mongolia that it is necessary to do a good job in the modern energy economy. How can Inner Mongolia implement the important instructions of the general secretary and plan for the layout of the "modern energy economy"?

Sun Shaocheng:Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in the eight important speeches on the work of Inner Mongolia, General Secretary Xi Jinping has mentioned three times to do a good job in the modern energy economy, which shows that the general secretary has high expectations and entrustment for us to do a good job in this work.

As a major energy region, the development of a modern energy economy in Inner Mongolia is where the advantages, opportunities and responsibilities lie. What we need to do is to follow the important instructions of the General Secretary, based on the existing industrial base, adhere to the simultaneous development of coal, electricity, oil and gas, wind and solar, and promote the formation of a variety of energy synergistic and complementary, comprehensive utilization, intensive and efficient energy supply. Specifically: First, "like the new" and not "tired of the old". Inner Mongolia is rich in new energy resources, especially wind and solar energy, which account for about 57% and 21% of the country's total technical development. At present, the installed capacity of new energy in the region has exceeded 70 million kilowatts, and it is expected to exceed 90 million kilowatts by the end of 2023. At the same time, we are deeply aware that coal will continue to be the main energy source of our country for a long time, and it will still be one of the main industries of our region to ensure stable production and supply of coal and clean and efficient utilization. At present, the coal production capacity of the whole region is stable at about 1.3 billion tons, and the proportion of coal-fired power and coal-chemical integration has reached more than 90%. The second is that the "strong point" is not "loose chain". After years of hard work, Inner Mongolia has built the country's largest coal power and coal chemical base, and is building a large-scale wind and solar base in the western part of the country, which are important supports for the development of the energy industry in our region. Relying on this, we have done everything possible to promote the extension of the energy industry chain to the downstream and the value chain to the middle and high-end, and have built seven key industrial chains of "wind, solar, hydrogen, storage and vehicle" and modern coal chemical industry and coal coke chemical industry. The third is to "grasp the big" rather than "let go small". In addition to "wind and solar" and coal, our region also has a lot of energy resources that are ranked among the top in the country and can be called. The remaining proven technical recoverable reserves of natural gas account for about 15.6% of the country, the remaining proven technical recoverable reserves of oil account for about 2.7% of the country, and unconventional oil and gas resources such as coalbed methane and shale oil are also abundant. For these precious resources, we are also trying to strengthen the development and utilization of these resources, and "contribute to the development of modern energy economy".

At present, we have formulated an implementation plan for building a national important energy and strategic resource base, and established a "1+7" system for energy and coal, electric power, renewable energy, oil and gas, technological innovation, hydrogen energy, and energy digitalization By 2025, the added value of the region's energy industry will reach about 750 billion yuan, and the comprehensive energy production capacity will reach 820 million tons of standard coal, and the added value of the energy industry will exceed 1 trillion yuan by 2030.

Reporter:Inner Mongolia is not only an important ecological security barrier in northern China, but also an important national energy and strategic resource base, how to ensure that the development path of modern energy economy is in line with ecological priority and green development orientation?

Sun Shaocheng:General Secretary Xi Jinping has always attached great importance to the construction of ecological civilization in Inner Mongolia, and when he inspected our region in June this year, he particularly emphasized that building an important ecological security barrier in northern China is the "great man of the country" that Inner Mongolia must keep in mind. In the process of developing a modern energy economy, we have always put ecological and environmental protection at the forefront, adhered to the coordinated promotion of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion and growth, accelerated the transformation and upgrading of the traditional energy industry, vigorously developed green energy, and strived to achieve a "win-win situation for beauty and development". The first is to guard the ecological bottom line. Persist in erecting a "hard bar" to protect the ecological environment, strictly prohibit new coal mining projects in the core areas of the grassland, and give priority to the construction of wind and solar power stations in deserts, borders, coal mining subsidence areas and other areas, so as to minimize the impact of energy resource development on nature. The second is to do a good job of protection and restoration. Formulate and implement a green mine construction plan, and 150 green coal mines have been built, accounting for 48% of all coal mines, and it is planned to achieve full coverage of green mines in production coal mines by 2025. The third is to do a good job in the transformation of coal power. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, a total of 16 million kilowatts of energy-saving transformation of coal-fired power units, 20 million kilowatts of flexible transformation, and more than 5 million kilowatts of heating transformation have been completed, and all new coal-fired power units have adopted advanced and efficient coal-fired units. Fourth, do a good job in green electricity substitution. Research and introduce six types of market-oriented policies for the application of new energy in multiple scenarios, encourage and support enterprises to use more green electricity, and last year, the region's new energy power generation capacity was 133.5 billion kilowatt hours, equivalent to reducing coal consumption by about 40 million tons of standard coal. Fifth, do a good job in photovoltaic desertification control. Inner Mongolia is the main position and main battlefield of the national "three norths" project and desertification control, and the implementation of photovoltaic desertification control in our region can not only develop the new energy industry, but also develop the economy under the board, and also prevent and control desertification. At present, we have built about 5.2 million kilowatts of new energy in Kubuqi, Ulan Buhe desert, Hunshandak and Horqin sandy lands, and completed photovoltaic desertification control area of about 180,000 mu.

Reporter:How to deal with the relationship between the two in the process of developing a modern energy economy in Inner Mongolia? How to enhance the supply capacity of the country's important energy base while building a new energy system?

Sun Shaocheng:In the process of developing a modern energy economy, promoting the substitution of old and new energy is the general direction and trend, but the gradual withdrawal of traditional energy should be based on the safe and reliable replacement of new energy, otherwise it will have an impact on the safe development. For Inner Mongolia, to do a good job in the modern energy economy, we must not only continue to play the role of the "ballast stone" of traditional energy represented by coal, but also speed up the expansion of the scale of new energy represented by wind and light, and strive to promote the optimal combination of coal and new energy to achieve a higher level, and take the lead in building an energy supply system with new energy as the main body in the country.

Inner Mongolia shoulders the great responsibility of ensuring the energy demand of North China, Northeast China, Northwest China and other places, and we insist on grasping both new energy and traditional energy, making concerted efforts, making every effort to play a good role in the "combination of energy supply", and strive to make due contributions to serving the overall development of the country. The first is to send more green electricity out. Accelerate the implementation of new energy multiplication actions, and continue to expand the scale of delivery. The "green electricity" generated by China's Huaneng Duolun Wind Farm in the Xilin Gol League spans 1,600 kilometers, injecting "green energy" from northern Xinjiang into this year's Hangzhou Asian Games. Since last year, the state has successively approved 4 new energy delivery bases in our region, with a total design delivery capacity of about 70 million kilowatts. At the same time, we are speeding up the layout and construction of a million-kilowatt wind power photovoltaic base, which has been approved by the state for three batches with a total of 54.88 million kilowatts. The second is to ensure good coal power. In the past two years, against the backdrop of a national shortage of coal power supply, Inner Mongolia has continued to increase its efforts to ensure coal supply, and last year alone, it completed the task of ensuring the supply of 945 million tons, effectively guaranteeing the coal demand of 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

Reporter:What role does Inner Mongolia play in promoting the high-quality development of Inner Mongolia in the field of new energy? What measures have been taken so far and what is the progress?

Sun Shaocheng:We propose to strive to build an "industrial Inner Mongolia" in the field of new energy, referring to the strive to achieve an output value of more than 1 trillion yuan by 2025. Achieving this will certainly play a great role in promoting Inner Mongolia's economic aggregate into the middle reaches of the country. To this end, in the process of new energy development and utilization, we have always adhered to the thinking of the whole industry chain, grasped the development and construction of new energy on the one hand, and the development of related supporting industries such as equipment manufacturing and operation and maintenance services on the other, continued to expand the application and consumption scenarios, and drove new industries with new energy, and strived to form an agglomeration effect and scale effect, and never simply "generated electricity and sold electricity". The first is to accurately carry out investment promotion. It is expected that by the end of this year, the supporting capacity of the whole wind power system in the whole region will reach 20 million kilowatts, the supply capacity of photovoltaic modules will reach 50 million kilowatts, the production capacity of energy storage equipment will reach 250 units (sets), and the energy storage system can meet the demand of 1 million kilowatts. The second is the centralized and intensive layout. Focus on the layout of the new energy equipment manufacturing industry in "Hubao-Hubei" to create a characteristic industrial cluster with strong competitive advantages. In the first three quarters, the output value of the "Hubao-Hubei" wind-solar hydrogen storage equipment manufacturing industry reached 223.2 billion yuan. The third is to promote the application of consumption. Make full use of the advantages of Inner Mongolia's green power "large volume and sufficient potential", and vigorously attract advanced green and high-energy industries to land in Inner Mongolia. As long as it is a project that meets environmental standards and has the ability to absorb it, we will fully support it.

Reporter:A few days ago, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the High-quality Development of Inner Mongolia and Striving to Write a New Chapter of Chinese-style Modernization". What is the significance of this opinion to Inner Mongolia to do a good job in modern energy economy? In the next step, how can Inner Mongolia implement the requirements of the opinions and promote the development of modern energy economy to a new level?

Sun Shaocheng:Soon after General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Inner Mongolia, the State Council issued the "Opinions", which is another great event in our region this year, which is an important milestone in the history of Inner Mongolia's development, and fully reflects the care and love of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core for Inner Mongolia. The fifth part of the "Opinions" "building a new energy system and enhancing the supply capacity of the country's important energy and strategic resource bases" puts forward a series of major support policies to support the development of a modern energy economy in Inner Mongolia, each of which is full of dry goods and full of gold. Among them, there are many jobs that we have had ideas for many years but have no way to do, and we can't do enough to do them. For example, speed up the construction of the Hohhot energy and resources headquarters economic agglomeration area, study and promote the construction of the transmission channel from the Hunshandak Sandy Land to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and so on. Some of them were put forward in accordance with the new situation, new tasks, and new requirements. For example, we will support the transfer of advanced green and high-energy industries to low-carbon and zero-carbon parks in Inner Mongolia, and support the construction of major demonstration projects of new power systems in Inner Mongolia. These are all great practical benefits for us to do a good job in the modern energy economy.

In October this year, the party committee of the autonomous region held a meeting to promote the key work of the whole region, and made comprehensive arrangements for the implementation of the "Opinions". We will promote the implementation of the "Opinions" with a strong sense of gratitude and forge ahead. Specific to the development of modern energy economy, we intend to focus on the following aspects to do a good job. The first is to learn the policy well. "Opinions" clear Inner Mongolia to develop a modern energy economy of the overall requirements, the main direction and the main tasks, we are organizing the relevant parties to study carefully, what to do, how to do clearly, to ensure that the grasp and implementation of the document proposed by the various tasks and measures. The second is to straighten out the implementation mechanism. The "Opinions" put forward specific tasks such as improving the supply guarantee capacity of traditional energy, promoting the construction of large-scale wind power and photovoltaic bases, and accelerating the construction of a modern energy economic system. We are sorting out these policies one by one, translating them into concrete facts, clarifying the timetable and construction drawings, and promoting the implementation of various tasks. The third is to take immediate action. Although the "Opinions" will be managed until 2035, the main tasks can basically be launched in the near future. For various tasks in the field of energy, we urge all relevant parties to take the day as a basis and seize the day to catch up, and the projects that can be started should be started as soon as possible, and the work that needs to be done should be done as soon as possible, and strive to make substantial progress in the shortest possible time.