Technical assistance from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has resulted in the signing of a $56 million contract between the US company Caterpillar Inc. and China's Shanxi Jincheng Anthracite Coal Mining Group (JMG).

According to a USTDA announcement released May 19 in Beijing, the contract covers the provision of gas engines and other equipment and services for a 120-megawatt coal mine/coal bed methane power plant that will be owned and operated by JMG and its partners.

USTDA had funded technical assistance to JMG as part the ongoing US effort to promote clean energy resources in China based on the country's abundant coal supply while strengthening US commercial interests.

In 2004, USTDA provided a $502,850 grant to JMG for preliminary project design, technical specifications and procurement assistance related to the implementation of the innovative power plant project.

The USTDA funding supported a contract between JMG and SCS Engineers Inc. of Long Beach, California. SCS assisted JMG in defining equipment specifications and facilitated the bid evaluation of equipment suppliers.

The $120 million power plant project, which has received funding support from the Asian Development Bank, will be the largest power facility of its type in the world. The project will help spur greater Chinese efforts to produce clean coal-based power in Shanxi province, one of the country's principal coal-producing provinces and one of the more polluted provinces in terms of air quality.

The project demonstrates the growing cooperation between US and Chinese energy-sector interests in using clean energy sources targeted under the Asia Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate, a priority energy and environmental initiative of the Bush administration.

Since 2001, USTDA has funded more than 80 activities supporting important development objectives in China.

Jane Morse, Washington File Staff Writer

US Company to Supply Power-Generation Equipment to China

With direct assistance from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal partners, US engine manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. received a $58 million contract from China to supply power generation equipment for the world's largest power plant fuelled by methane from coalmines.

The project is the result of collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors through the Methane to Markets Partnership, a US-led initiative that now includes 17 partner countries, including China, according to an EPA press release.

The power plant will produce 120 megawatts of electricity from coal-bed and coalmine methane from the Sihe Mine in China, in addition to exhaust-gas heat that will be recovered to produce hot water and steam for the mining operations.

Once the project is complete, an estimated 4.5 million tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions will be avoided each year. This is equal to emissions from 1 million cars annually.

"Pollution knows no political boundaries,” said William Wehrum, EPA acting assistant administrator for air and radiation, “and in the US we recognize that our environmental responsibility does not stop at our borders."

The project supports the goals of the Methane to Markets Partnership and the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, of which China and the United States are members.

The Asia-Pacific partnership, initiated earlier in 2006, promotes energy security and reductions in air pollution and global greenhouse gas emissions.

The Methane to Markets Partnership was launched in November 2004 to advance cost-effective, near-term methane recovery and use as a source of clean energy. Methane is a greenhouse gas that can be used as a clean energy source.

The US government is committing up to $53 million over the next five years to support the methane partnership.

EPA has helped facilitate this and other coalmine methane projects in China through support of the coal bed and coal mine methane clearinghouse in China, which serves as a focal point for international and domestic investors and project developers.