Xinhua News Agency:

The new round of rainy and snowy weather this week will bring about a sharp drop in temperature. What is the overall situation of the current energy production and supply? Are we prepared for extreme weather? Thank you.

Zhang Jianhua:

Thank you for your questions. In accordance with the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on ensuring energy supply and price stability, we have been working with relevant sides to make preparations, and going all out to do a good job to ensure that the supply of coal, electricity, oil, and gas can meet peak demand during winter.

In 2022, we kept on optimizing and adjusting the structure of the coal industry, actively expanded advanced coal production capacity, and phased out outdated production facilities. The elasticity of coal supply was significantly enhanced, and the annual average daily output remained at a reasonable level. Efforts were made to ensure the safe and stable supply of electricity. Over the year, coal-fired power generators with a total capacity of more than 30 million kilowatts were put into operation, and construction of generators with a total capacity of over 50 million kilowatts was started . The level of coal storage in the country's major power plants remained high. We fully promoted the increase of oil and gas reserves and production, which exceeded the phased goal set in a seven-year action plan for the oil and gas industry. Total crude oil production recovered to 200 million metric tons , and natural gas production exceeded 220 billion cubic meters, marking annual increases of more than 10 billion cubic meters for six consecutive years.

Since the beginning of the winter season, the energy supply has withstood the test of multiple rounds of cold waves. Since December last year, coal production has remained stable, and the electricity coal inventory has remained at about 175 million metric tons. The national electricity load has stabilized at about 1.1 billion kilowatts, with a maximum of 1.159 billion kilowatts, and power generation increased by 5.8% year-on-year. Since the beginning of this winter, the number of days when the daily supply of natural gas exceeded 1.2 billion cubic meters reached 38, and underground gas storage facilities operated at full daily capacity of above 170 million cubic meters to meet gas demand peaks for 20 consecutive days . At present, the consumption of coal, electricity, and natural gas across the country has dropped from the peak level, and the supply and demand situation has been generally stable and manageable. The energy supply in the current heating season has been guaranteed in terms of resource volume and regional balance. Governments at all levels and various energy companies have established emergency response mechanisms to ensure supplies. In order to further eliminate people's worries and smooth the channels for problem reporting and resolution, you can call the 12398 energy supervision hotline if the problem of heating services and supply by a specific energy company has not been resolved, or if the solution is not satisfactory after reporting. Thank you.