Inner Mongolia is one of the most powerful electricity generators in China as it has the second largest available coal reserves in the region.

Below are extracts of an article written by Xie Chuanjiao and published by China Daily

The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in North China, is one of the country's biggest electricity generators, providing up to a third of the power used by Beijing every year.

As a key resource provider, the region delivered a total of 55.5 billion kWh to its surrounding provinces and municipalities by the end of 2006.

"Last year when Beijing and other places tried to restrict the use of power by switching it off, power exports from Inner Mongolia contributed greatly to help boost the coal-to-electricity strategy," Qiao Mu, vice-director of the provincial development and reform committee, told China Daily.

To date the installed power-generating capacity is 24.1 million kWh, and electricity output last year [2006] was 141.64 billion kWh.

Between 2005 and 2006 a number of new power plants started up, including the region's first natural gas-generated power plant and China's largest coal-fired power foundation - the phase three project of Datang Tuoketuo Power Plant in the capital city Hohhot.

Shangdu Power Plant in Xilingol League has generated 1.58 billion kWh. Renowned for being low cost and environmentally friendly, the plant has been a major player in the export of electricity to the country's south.

Inner Mongolia's powerful power production capacity is made largely possible by its richness in coal resources.

Latest data suggests the region's available coal reserves is 223.2 billion tons, second only to neighboring Shanxi Province.

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Since 2000 a number of coal-related chemical industrial projects and oil-substitution projects have been launched in Inner Mongolia.

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However, he stressed that the region's industrial development "does not" totally rely on coal sales, which contributes less than 8 percent to the local industrial production value, equal to dairy-related product sales.

The future development of the region will rely on a number of "sustainable" factors such as developing the region into a "recycle economy", Chu said