WATER POWERED: The Qinghai Laxiwa Hydropower Station, the biggest hydropower station with the largest installed capacity on the Yellow River, starts generating electricity on May 18, 2009. Laxiwa is a key component in the west-east electricity transmission project (DING HAISHENG)

Recently, China's State Council decided to set up the National Energy Commission led by Premier Wen Jiabao to step up strategic policymaking and coordination. As a closely related topic to the national economy and people's livelihoods, the energy issue has always attracted considerable attention. The country's energy industry also witnessed a series of significant changes in 2009. The top 10 energy news events of 2009, as selected by the Economic Information Daily under Xinhua News Agency, follow:

On February 3-5, the National Energy Bureau held the First National Energy Work Conference in Beijing. The conference outlined a series of key issues regarding national energy, including structural adjustments in the power supply sector, coal resource integration, international energy cooperation, the development of renewable and new energies, and strengthening energy industry administration.

On April 16, Unit Six of the Laxiwa Hydropower Station was commissioned, marking a milestone in China's 800-gigawatt installed power capacity and 180-gigawatt installed hydropower capacity. Laxiwa, the biggest hydroelectric power plant on China's second longest river—the Yellow River—with a total installed capacity of 4.2 gigawatts, started generating electricity on May 18.

In May, the provincial government of Shanxi, China's biggest coal producer and supplier, issued the Coal Industry Restructuring and Revitalization Plan. The plan said that Shanxi is expected to establish 1,000 mechanized coalmines with an annual production volume of 900,000 tons through a series of mergers and acquisitions.

In June, a joint group led by China Guangdong Nuclear Energy Development Co. Ltd., along with Jiangsu-based Best Solar Co. Ltd. and Belgium-headquartered Enfinity, won a bid to construct a 100-gigawatt photovoltaic power plant in Dunhuang, Gansu Province at a price of 1.09 yuan ($0.16) per kwh, representing China's commitment to making solar power more economically viable.

On August 18, China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) bought Geneva-based Addax Petroleum Corp. for almost $7.56 billion, making the deal the largest overseas takeover by a Chinese company. Sinopec paid $46 a share of Addax, which owns 25 oil and gas blocks in Nigeria, Gabon and Iraq.

On September 10, PetroChina Co. Ltd., China's largest oil and gas producer and distributor, began to pump coal bed methane (CBM) into its flagship West-to-East natural gas pipeline, shipping the gas from north China's Shanxi Province to faraway gas users. The CBM gas produced in the coal-rich Shanxi will be mixed with natural gas from west China and then sent to users in the east. With a daily pumping volume of 500,000 cubic meters, representing only 1 percent of the total daily volume of West-to-East national gas pipeline, PetroChina's CBM pumping marked a new chapter in China's CBM commercial development.

On November 21, an explosion killed 108 mineworkers at the Xinxing Coal Mine under the Hegang branch of the state-owned Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group. Luo Lin, Minister of the State Administration of Work Safety and head of the investigation team, said the disaster occurred in the absence of proper safety protocols, namely the designation of someone to oversee safety.

"The mine has not carried out serious and thorough inspections to clear up any potential hazards," he said, adding that the management had failed to evacuate the workers promptly after high gas intensity was detected in the pit.

On November 26, China announced its 2020 target to raise non-fossil fuel's share of primary energy consumption to 15 percent, and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent compared to 2005 levels.

On December 14, the China-Central Asia gas pipeline went into operation, bringing Central Asian natural gas into China. Chinese President Hu Jintao and his counterparts from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan jointly opened the pipeline linking the four nations.

The 1,833-km gas pipeline starts at the gas plant near a border town in Turkmenistan and runs through central Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan before entering China at the border Horgos Pass in the northwestern region of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Starting from December 22, water prices in Beijing for residential use were hiked by 0.3 yuan to 4 yuan ($0.6) per cubic meter. The hike includes a 0.16-yuan increase in water resources fee and 0.14 yuan rise in sewage treatment charge.

Throughout 2009, different parts of China experienced water price hikes. More than 10 cities have already increased their water prices, while other cities are still contemplating an increase.