China Rumors

China Rumors

March 03, 1999 | By Keith Martin in Washington, DC

CHINA RUMORS . . . Unconfirmed reports from China are that the government has declared a moratorium on construction of new thermal power plants for the next three years. There is no information on whether the moratorium affects proposed projects that use fuels other than coal.

Meanwhile, the State Power Corporation — the successor to the former Ministry of Electric Power — has declared that new power purchase agreements may no longer contain minimum power purchase obligations. Power projects that have received final approval from the State Development Planning Commission are expected to be grandfathered under the prior regulations that allowed such “minimum take” provisions. This latest action is expected to launch China into a full economic dispatch environment within the next few years