China has announced a new coal-to-oil conversion project, with more to follow.
The site, to be based in Guizhou Province in the South West of China, will use indirect coal liquefaction technology to produce an estimated five million tonnes of oil per year.
The 75bn Yuan ($11.3bn) project is the first of its kind to have received approval from China's National Energy Administration and will form part of the country's energy development plan for the next five years.
The plant will be run by state-owned mining company, Shenhua Group Corp. and has already begun a 1.08mn tonnes/year trial operation. A further plant in China's Ningxia region is awaiting approval and will use Sasol convertion technology as part of a joint venture.
Currently, Shenhua is using technology developed by the Chinese Academy of Science's Institute of Coal Chemistry which has also gained approval for a third plant in Inner Mongolia.