An autonomous truck is running in a coal stockyard in Ganqmod Port in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on November 12, 2023. Photo: Tao Mingyang/GT

China's energy demand continues to rise as cold waves are affecting many parts of the country. Experts said the country's energy supply is ensured and the power shortages experienced in the winter of 2021 will not occur again, as multiple measures have been taken to stabilize supply.

New sources of clean energy are playing an increasingly important role thanks to policy support and technological advances.

China Railway shipped 178 million tons of coal in November, up 3.2 percent year-on-year, of which 130 million tons were sent to power plants, up 0.6 percent, according to data the company sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

As of the end of November, a total of 371 power stations in areas that China Railway operates had 86.27 million tons of coal in storage, more than 20 days' supply and a relatively high level, the company said.

"The country's energy supply this winter is ensured, and the power shortages seen during the winter of 2021 will not happen again," Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

China's energy supply remains at a relatively high level, and there has been a notable growth in coal imports, Lin said.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, China imported 427 million tons of coal in the first 11 months of the year, up 62.8 percent year-on-year.

According to Lin, traditional energy will retain a dominant role in the country's energy supply this winter, but the supply of new energy will become an important supplement thanks to national policy support and technological advances.

As a kind of clean energy, nuclear power is playing an increasingly larger role during the winter. On November 25, China's first project to bring nuclear-generated heat to multiple prefecture-level cities began operation in East China's Shandong Province, State Power Investment Corp (SPIC) said.

The project, named Warm Nuclear No.1, covers floor space of12.5 million square meters and can meet the clean heating needs of 400,000 residents, SPIC said.

China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOP) told the Global Times that its oilfield in the eastern part of the South China Sea produces more than 23 million cubic meters of natural gas every day to ensure market supply, with eight mobile offshore drilling platforms and more than 60 vessels operating at full steam.

Since October, CNOOP Hainan branch's daily supply of natural gas to Guangdong and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions has steadily increased, compared with the peak period of the third quarter, according to the company.

In addition to ensure domestic energy security, the country is boosting new-energy technological innovations characterized by green and low-carbon sources. 

China's renewable energy, nuclear power and new types of electricity systems will achieve integrated development, according to Lin.