China’s Sichuan province is strengthening oversight of industrial energy conservation and carbon reduction, with cement producers required to develop enterprise-specific upgrade plans and face closer scrutiny of energy use, equipment efficiency and emissions.

Under measures outlined by the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, local authorities must allocate transformation tasks to individual enterprises and ensure upgrades are implemented. New, reconstructed and expanded projects must meet established energy-efficiency benchmarks and achieve an A-level environmental performance rating.

For cement manufacturers, the requirements place greater emphasis on auditing core production processes, major energy-consuming equipment and operational practices. Companies must identify inefficiencies, assess suitable technologies and prepare detailed plans specifying upgrade scope, implementation methods and timetables. Retrofit work should be coordinated with scheduled maintenance or production stoppages.

The measures encourage equipment renewal, integrated energy-saving systems and optimisation of energy infrastructure within plants and industrial parks. Energy Performance Contracting is promoted as a mechanism to accelerate delivery.

Digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things, are also encouraged to improve efficiency and support energy and carbon management systems. Cement producers with suitable capabilities are encouraged to introduce automated monitoring of carbon dioxide emissions in flue gases.

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Provincial authorities will assess progress annually and conduct targeted inspections covering energy and electricity consumption per unit of output, equipment efficiency and carbon emissions. Inspection findings, due by the end of December each year, will inform investment and pricing support policies.

Unauthorised capacity additions, failure to eliminate obsolete capacity and falsification of energy-saving or carbon-reduction data will face enforcement action.

Municipal authorities must submit annual progress reports by the end of November. Provincial state-owned enterprises are expected to lead implementation, while building materials associations and specialist service providers will support benchmarking, technology adoption and project delivery.

Source: Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission.