(Yicai Global) Dec. 28 -- China is increasing its supply of natural gas and coal to ensure its power generation and heating needs as more freezing weather is forecast this week, the country’s top economic planner said today.

The National Development and Reform Commission said it will increase output from the middle section of the new China-Russia East Route Natural Gas pipeline by up to 10 million cubic meters a day.

The middle section came on tap at the start of this month following the opening of the outbound valve in Changling, Jilin province, enabling the clean-burning fuel to be supplied to Beijing and the rest of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from Russia.

The NDRC will also speed up shipments of natural gas from southern regions of China to the freezing north, where it is mainly used for heating and cooking.

Major coal producers in the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have been instructed to boost production capacity and coal imports. The NDRC has ordered power plants to have coal reserves for at least 18 days.

The country’s power grid is already stretched to the maximum with daily loads higher than during the summer peak due to a sudden drop in temperatures and an unexpected uptick in production as the economy bounces back. Electricity use has jumped 11 percent in the past month from the same time last year.

Twenty provinces have seen double-digit growth in power use. Hunan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces started to ration power, but have since ceased as energy supply caught up with demand.

Editor: Kim Taylor