Cleaner and smarter production to reshape sector, ensure energy buffer
China is set to optimize its coal industry by 2030, focusing on cleaner and more efficient production to safeguard its baseload energy supply, a newly released government road map stated.
According to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) for Coal Industry Development, jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration, the country will continuously advance the construction of coal supply guarantee bases and refine cross-regional coal transport patterns.
To achieve this, regulators will raise the industry entry barrier, phase out outdated mines and prioritize high-efficiency operations, while ensuring a gradual plateau in domestic coal consumption.
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By 2030, the plan aims to cement coal's position as a critical energy buffer while making sure that modern and high-efficiency facilities dominate production.
Nationwide, large-scale modern mines will account for 87 percent of total production capacity, and the share of capacity from automated and "smart" mines will jump to 75 percent. Additionally, coalbed methane output is projected to hit 26 billion cubic meters in the final framework. The development and utilization of coalbed methane offer multiple benefits, including enhancing mine safety.
Greener economy
The road map comes at a time when China is accelerating toward a greener economy, making unprecedented investment in clean energy infrastructure to meet its ambitious dual carbon goals of peaking emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060.
China's energy sector crossed a historic threshold recently, with coal-fired power generation accounting for less than 50 percent of the nation's total electricity output for the first time, according to official data.
Xing Yiteng, deputy director-general of the National Energy Administration's development planning department, said that coal power generation stood at 2.5 trillion kilowatt-hours in the first six months of the year, bringing its share down to 49.7 percent.
"Coal power's share falling below 50 percent of total power generation for the first time is a landmark achievement in China's long-term push for renewable energy alternatives, signaling a new breakthrough in the country's green and low-carbon transition," Xing said.
Lin Boqiang, head of Xiamen University's China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy, said the 2026-30 window is a critical transition period as coal use nears its peak.
The sector's focus, he said, will pivot from sheer volume expansion to supply optimization and grid stability.
"The plan moves away from the old logic of simply digging for more coal, toward a balance between energy security and green transition," Lin said.
He added that market regulation will transition from ad hoc administrative interventions to long-term structural changes, heavily relying on intelligent mining upgrades and the integration of coal power with renewables.
Demand patterns are also expected to diverge over the next five years. Coal consumption in the construction materials and metallurgy sectors will shrink, while power sector demand will plateau and begin to decline. Chemical sector usage, however, will see a slight uptick.
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Meanwhile, automation will no longer be optional. Hitting the 75 percent smart-mine target by 2030 — up from roughly 65 percent in 2025 — will force companies to invest heavily in digitization.
The plan mandates the integration of artificial intelligence in the areas of exploration, production and safety monitoring, with a specific push to replace dangerous manual labor with robotics in disaster-prone mines.
Smaller operators lacking the capital for these technological upgrades will face severe consolidation pressure, Lin said, noting that well-capitalized industry leaders are poised to capture more market share.
Contact the writers at zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn
