New coal upgrading plant will be built in China

DeTeam Company Ltd has announced a strategic partnership with Dalian Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corp., to construct the production facilities for the coal upgrading plant in Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia.

The partnership is founded on a project management contract signed between subsidiaries of DeTeam and Dalian Shipbuilding. Early estimated costs of the project are expected to be around HK$ 587.33 million. Should the project exceed this cost, it will not exceed the maximum cost of HK$ 716.80 million.

Xu Bin, co-chairman of DeTeam, said the company was “Honoured to partner with Dalian Shipbuilding to construct the production facilities in Xilinhaote in Inner Mongolia. Dalian Shipbuilding […] has shown their support for our partnership by providing financial support for our construction project.”

The coal upgrading plant will be located in Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia, and will be able to process 3 million tpa of low-rank coal, thus producing 2 million tpa of clean brown coal.

In September, the Chinese Government announced a number of measures aimed at tackling pollution, following pressure to do so that came after hazardous smog engulfed much of the industrial North in January.

Among the measures announced, the northern industrial regions of China will be required to upgrade existing coal-fired power plants and use better quality coal, which means lower-rank coal – often available in great quantities via import from Indonesia – will need to be processed at upgrading plants.

DeTeam said it was expected that construction of the coal upgrading facilities will be completed by 25 October 2014.

Zhang Fusheng, executive director of DeTeam, added: “DeTeam is positioning itself as the service solution provider to the coal energy giants. Amid the recent change in energy structure in China, coal will remain the country’s dominant energy source, making up more than two thirds of energy consumption. Leveraging on our successful experience in Changchun and the support of Dalian Shipbuilding, we can speed up the development of the coal upgrading business in Inner Mongolia and boost the profitability of the Group in the foreseeable future.”

The Group said it viewed the coal upgrading industry in China as being a promising sector of investment, due to new Chinese Government policy. While the mainstream solution to air-pollution is the development of alternative energies, the Group said “Considering the production cost and the maturity of technologies, alternative energies are unable to be launched [in China] on a [sufficient] scale in the near future. Clean coal technology (CCT), on the other hand, is a practical way to curb pollution issues in China and coal upgrading technology is one of the key aspects in CCT.”

Edited from various sources by Sam Dodson

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/handling/12112013/coal_upgrading_facilities_in_china_246/