In April on the Ordos Plateau, the spring breeze is still accompanied by sand and dust, but on the construction site in Subulga Town, Ejin Horo Banner, the roar of machinery has already drowned out the wind. On April 8, 2026, Huaihe Energy Holdings Group's Subulga Coal Mine project officially broke ground. This "giant" with a designed production capacity of 8 million tons per year is not only a key project in Inner Mongolia's "15th Five Year Plan", but also a key coal source guarantee for the country's "Mongolian Electricity Entering Anhui" strategy. Almost at the same time, in Qingyang, Gansu, thousands of miles away, Gansu Energy and Chemical Group also received approval documents from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. The Jiulongchuan coal mine in Ningzheng mining area passed the environmental impact assessment and obtained the key "pass" before construction began. In the game of ensuring energy supply in China, the simultaneous advancement of two super mines in the east and west is injecting strong momentum into the regional economy.

Connect the last kilometer of Mongolian electricity into Anhui

The construction of the Subulga coal mine marks a solid step towards deeper coal development in China. This mine has a vertical depth of 900 meters and is currently one of the deepest mines in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Its mining area is 79.3 square kilometers and it has a rich resource reserve of 1.657 billion tons.

The efficient progress of the project exceeded the expectations of many people. From obtaining approval from the National Development and Reform Commission on April 10, 2025, to obtaining approval for the start of construction filing on April 2, 2026, all preliminary procedures were completed in just 12 months, setting a new record for the approval speed of similar projects. As the construction party, Huaihe Energy Group regards it as the "Number One Project", with a total investment of over 10.9 billion yuan, supporting the construction of coal preparation plants and railway dedicated lines of the same scale. It is expected that after completion and operation in 2029, the annual output value will reach 4 billion yuan, and the annual tax payment will be about 600 million yuan. More importantly, it will serve as a supporting coal source for the integration of Mongolian electricity into Anhui, providing stable support for the power supply in East China.

18.6 billion investment to solve supply guarantee problem

In the Longdong region of the Loess Plateau, another super mine has also reached a decisive moment. On March 31, 2026, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment officially approved the environmental impact assessment report (Environmental Review [2026] No. 31) for the Jiulongchuan Mine and Coal Preparation Plant project of Gansu Energy and Chemical Group, clearing the biggest obstacle to project commencement.

Jiulongchuan Coal Mine is located in Ning County, Qingyang City and is a major construction project in Gansu Province. The total investment of the project is as high as 18.635 billion yuan, with a well field area of 106.99 square kilometers and a designed production capacity of 8 million tons per year. The construction process of this project was full of twists and turns. Due to the impact of geological disasters, the construction party had to work with the design unit to optimize the change approval plan, and obtained the change approval in April 2025. At present, the project has obtained multiple key procedures such as mining rights certificate, preliminary design, and safety facility design. After the approval of the construction land procedures is completed, it can fully enter the construction phase. After completion, it will effectively alleviate the contradiction between coal supply and demand in Gansu Province and become a core component of the Longdong Comprehensive Energy Base.

Green intelligence becomes a new standard

Two super mines with an annual output of 8 million tons are not only an expansion of production capacity, but also a demonstration of technological upgrading. In the increasingly strict environmental requirements, green and intelligent have become their common labels.

The Subulga coal mine is positioned as a "green, intelligent, and harmonious" ecological and environmental protection model mining area. It has planned the integration of wind and solar new energy and the utilization of mine water resources, striving to protect the plateau ecology during development. Jiulongchuan Coal Mine is facing severe challenges in soil and water conservation on the Loess Plateau. The environmental impact assessment report requires strict implementation of water conservation measures for coal mining, setting up protective coal pillars for the Malian River and Jiulong River, and establishing a long-term monitoring system for groundwater to ensure that the treated mine water is reused or discharged in compliance with standards, minimizing the impact on fragile ecosystems.

With these two coal mines being put into operation around 2029, the framework of China's coal supply guarantee base will become more stable, and the "ballast stone" role of energy strategy will be further strengthened.Editor/Yang Meiling