A total of 20 groups of students have won this year's Shell University Energy Survey Prize, which is jointly held by Royal Dutch Shell, Science and Technology Development Center under the Ministry of Agriculture, and Shanghai Clean Energy Research and Industry Promotion Center.

The student projects covered a wide range such as energy utilization in China's rural areas and conservation in local enterprises.

Power strain down

China's energy supply situation is easing after 10-year tension, and the country's energy authority will take advantage of this condition to increase its energy system reform, said Wang Siqiang, director with the National Energy Administration.

Affected by the global financial crisis, many Chinese small and medium enterprises in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta have reportedly closed due to weak overseas demands. And the country's energy supply is becoming relatively abundant after years of strain.

Energy output growth dives

China's energy output growth dropped sharply in November, affected by the worsening global financial crisis and the slowing economy. The national energy output amounted to 214.58 million tons in November, up 7.7 percent year-on-year, said the National Bureau of Statistics.

Power generation output posted both year-on-year and month-on-month drops in November. The country generated 254.02 billion kWh of electricity last month, down 9.6 percent year-on-year or 4 percent month-on-month.

Nuke plant construction

Construction of the country's largest nuclear power plant, with an investment of 70 billion yuan ($10 billion) got under way by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG), the State-owned nuclear energy investor.

The plant is expected to contribute more than 100 billion yuan in GDP growth and create thousands of jobs in Yangjiang, a less developed city in western Guangdong province, the company said. Once completed, the plant will supply 45 billion kWh of electricity each year.

Energy base started

Construction of major projects in a 50-billion-yuan energy base, one of the largest coal chemical bases in Asia has begun in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. The 3,500-sq-km base, known as Ningdong Energy-Chemical Base is part of the government's efforts to develop resources in Western China.

Three power plants, three coal mines, one electricity distribution line and one coal-to-petrochemical plant will be built.

Lanzhou refinery expansion

The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Lanzhou Petrochemical Co plans to expand its annual refining capacity to 20 million tons during the 12th Five-year Plan (2011-15).

CNPC Lanzhou Petrochemical Co is now the largest refinery in West China, producing oil products, chemicals, and fertilizers. Last year, the company's crude oil refining capacity reached 10.5 million tons and is able to produce 700,000 million tons of ethylene every year.

200b yuan oil and gas program

The central government has approved China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC)'s 200-billion-yuan program to expand oil and gas exploration in the coming 10-20 years.

The massive investment plan was approved by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and will kick off in 2009, China Business News reported last week.

CNOOC, the country's third-largest oil producer, said in its statement last month that it would invest 200 billion yuan on oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea in the next 10 or 20 years and build up a production capacity with annual output of 50 million tons, equivalent to that of China's biggest oil field, the Daqing Oil Field.

The Shanghai-based newspaper said the 200 billion yuan would focus on the construction of exploration infrastructure and development capacity for oil and gas fields deep in the sea.

(China Daily 12/22/2008 page5)