China Huaneng Group, the country's largest supplier of electricity, has teamed with Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to explore the region's rich energy reserves under a strategic partnership, the firm said on its Website.

The cooperation will give Huaneng access to resources in one of China's most important energy reserve bases to fuel its generators while helping Xinjiang boost its power supply capacity, analysts said.

Under a strategic cooperation framework contract, Huaneng will be allowed to develop hydro, coal and wind power projects in Xinjiang. It is unknown when the project will start or how much their capacity will be.

"It's a win-win cooperation, which will help expand Huaneng's service area and boost Xinjiang's power supply capacity at the same time," said Huaneng General Manager Li Xiaopeng.

Xinjiang boasts more than 30 percent of China's land reserves of oil and natural gas and 40 percent of coal reserves, apart from rich hydro and wind energy resources. But the region is relatively underdeveloped compared to the country's eastern region, especially the coastal provinces.

Currently most of Huaneng's power plants are in eastern and central China. The company had a controlling stake in 76 power plants in 23 provinces with a combined capacity of 43.2 million kilowatts by the end of last year.

The central government is trying to develop its western region and reduce the area's gap with the eastern provinces. One measure is to encourage the western regions to develop their energy sector and export energy like electricity and gas to the eastern regions.

Source:佚名