Jungar Banner: Transformation of Coal-based Industrial Structure

Recently, as China's first 10,000-ton renewable energy hydrogen production project began to produce hydrogen, Jungar Banner once again attracted the attention of the rest of the world. As the biggest coal production county in China, Jungar Banner embarked on the path of industrial transformation and upgrading for its high-quality development.

Dalu Industrial Park -- Jiutai New Materials [Photo by Jia Xinlong]

Jungar Banner prospered thanks to abundant coal resources. Yet, simply utilizing coal cannot support sustainable economic and social development. Transformation and upgrading have thus become an immediate issue for Jungar Banner. In recent years, Jungar Banner continues to promote smart mining, new coal chemical industries, renewable energy industries, and ecological progress in parallel, embarking on a green and sustainable development path with coal resources as its lifeline as well as industrial structure upgrading and sustainable development as the core principle.

Green Mines [Photo by Chen Wenjun]

Relying on Coal Resources

As early as the end of the Tenth Five-Year Plan, Jungar Banner began to integrate coal resources across the entire banner and reform coal mining methods through modern fully mechanized mining equipment.

In 2008, the original 207 coal mines in the entire Banner were integrated and reorganized into 114, all of which completed mechanization. Besides, their equipment and technology ranked among the top nationwide. By the end of 2022, 25 smart mines were built, and the construction rate of green mines reached 70 percent. The continuous advancement of the construction of smart mines and green mines has enabled the Banner to utilize resources comprehensively, conserve energy and reduce emission, and protect the ecological environment throughout the entire process of mineral resource development. In this way, the coal industry is able to achieve sustainable development, becoming momentum to facilitate high-quality local economic development.

Transforming Coal Industry

The new coal chemical industry, which originated in the early stages of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, has become the main development force for Jungar Banner to promote the modern energy economy due to its extensive industry value chain and increasing added value.

After more than ten years of development, the coal chemical industry in Jungar Banner became realistic productivity. In the context of the national strategy of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, Jungar Banner has deployed innovation chains around the industry value chain in accordance with the requirements of building an important national energy and strategic resource base, achieving new breakthroughs in industrial transformation and upgrading and writing a new chapter in its economic progress.

Coal-based Nano Hydrogen R&D Team of Jungar Energy Group Conducting Experiments [Photo via Jungar Energy Group]

Upgrading Coal Industrial Structure

With industrial transformation and upgrading advancing, Jungar Banner's renewable energy industry has gradually emerged.

Jungar Banner has made unprecedented achievements within Inner Mongolia: the first 5G autonomous mining truck and the first large photovoltaic module were put into production and rolled off the production line; the first green electricity and low-carbon rooftop photovoltaic integration demonstration project was connected to the grid for power generation; the first zero-carbon rural demonstration project was launched; the largest renewable energy mining equipment intelligent manufacturing park was built; the first integrated photovoltaic hydrogen production demonstration project was operated. Moreover, the first lithium-ion battery anode material project was underway in Junagr Banner. Led by a group of leading renewable energy companies, Junagr Banner is making every effort to enhance the renewable energy industry, accelerating the construction of an industrial cluster of "wind, solar and hydrogen energy storage vehicle" integrating energy production, equipment manufacturing, and application demonstration, and optimize the industrial structure entirely.

Smart Mining Control Center [Photo via Datang Guoyuan Longwanggou Coal Mine Development Co., Ltd.]

Green Coal Mining

Jungar Banner has always attached equal importance to economic development and ecological improvement. By the end of 2022, the forest coverage rate of Jungar Banner reached 36.38 percent, and the vegetation coverage rate 76.2 percent. With barren land shifted into the green one, an ecological miracle, thus, is created.

Relying on coal resources, transforming coal industry, and upgrading coal industrial structure, the transformation and upgrading of Jungar Banner provides experience for the sustainable development of resource-based areas.