National Energy Administration: Plans to organize a pilot project to promote the application of intelligent technology in coal mines.

On July 31, the Comprehensive Department of the National Energy Administration issued a notice on carrying out pilot work for the application of intelligent technology upgrades in coal mines. Focusing on key areas and typical application scenarios of intelligent construction in coal mines, upgrading key technologies and innovative practical applications, promoting the construction of a group of typical projects with high-level intelligent control of equipment and strong autonomous stable operation of production systems, condensing replicable and promotable intelligent construction plans and operation modes in coal mines, leading and driving the intelligent development of coal mines to a higher level, and improving the productivity level of the industry. The key areas include the following five aspects: intelligent mining systems for shaft coal mines, intelligent coal mining systems for shaft coal mines, intelligent mining-stripping systems for open-pit coal mines, intelligent coal selection systems, and auxiliary and other intelligent systems. The original text is as follows: Notification of the Comprehensive Department of the National Energy Administration on carrying out pilot work for the application of intelligent technology upgrades in coal mines National Energy Administration Comprehensive [2025] No. 120 Energy authorities of coal-producing provinces (autonomous regions), relevant departments of coal mining provinces (autonomous regions) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Development and Reform Commission, coal industry management departments, relevant central enterprises: In order to thoroughly implement the decision-making arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, accelerating the key technology breakthroughs and promotion of intelligent coal mine technology, iteratively improving the operational level of intelligent coal mine construction, promoting industry transformation and development, in accordance with the requirements of the Notice on further accelerating the construction of intelligent coal mines to promote high-quality coal development (National Energy Administration Coal [2024] No. 38), it is proposed to organize pilot work for the application of intelligent technology upgrades in coal mines. The relevant matters are notified as follows. 1. General requirements Thoroughly implement the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the Twentieth Central Committee of the Party, conscientiously implement the arrangements of the Central Economic Work Conference, base on the operation of intelligent coal mine construction, give full play to the industry's scientific research strength, focus on key areas and typical application scenarios of intelligent coal mine construction, upgrade key technologies, and innovative practical applications, promote the construction of a group of typical projects with high-level intelligent control equipment, and strong autonomous stable operation of production systems, condense replicable and promotable intelligent coal mine construction plans and operation models, lead and drive intelligent coal mine development to a higher level, and improve the productivity level of the industry. 2. Pilot tasks Adhere to the goal-oriented and problem-oriented approach, break through the key technical bottlenecks of intelligent coal mines and promote the optimization and upgrade of intelligent systems as the goal, select coal mines with suitable resource and environmental conditions, strong technological innovation capabilities, and solid management foundations to carry out pilot construction of intelligent technology upgrades, form efficient and reliable intelligent construction and operation systems with typical technological characteristics for different geological conditions. The key areas include the following five aspects. (1) Intelligent mining system for shaft coal mines. Strengthen the upgrading of technical equipment such as high-precision geological exploration and integrated support, focus on breakthroughs in technology such as efficient support, high-precision positioning navigation, and precise geological modeling, form intelligent mining modes for coal galleries, semi-coal rock galleries, rock galleries, etc., enhance the level of equipment integration and system intelligence, achieve efficient coordination and stable operation of exploration-support-anchoring-transportation. (2) Intelligent coal mining system for shaft coal mines. Strengthen the adaptive cutting and high-level digital mining of coal mining equipment, focus on breakthroughs in technologies such as high-precision perception, precise control, and intelligent decision-making, form intelligent mining modes for thin and medium-thick coal seam comprehensive mining, large cutting height comprehensive mining, comprehensive release, etc., enhance adaptation to geological conditions and resource recovery rate, achieve autonomous operation of production systems and less manpower or unmanned normal production on the work face. (3) Intelligent mining-stripping system for open-pit coal mines. Strengthen the intelligent coordination and upgrade of the entire business process, focus on breakthroughs in technologies such as autonomous mining equipment, collaborative control of equipment, intelligent drilling and blasting, and scheduling, form intelligent mining-stripping operation modes such as intermittent processes, semi-continuous processes, continuous processes, enhance the intelligent coordination capability of multi-processes, achieve the remote control or autonomous operation of production system equipment in the mining and transportation scheduling operation. (4) Intelligent coal selection system. Strengthen standardized construction of the whole process, focus on breakthroughs in technologies such as precision detection, online analysis, intelligent control, form intelligent selection modes for thermal coal (wet method, dry method), coking coal, etc., enhance dynamic analysis decision-making and the overall operational level of intelligent operation, realize efficiency improvement and consumption reduction in the coal preparation plant and unmanned operation in production sites. (5) Auxiliary and other intelligent systems. Strengthen the integration of systems and deep integration of artificial intelligence, carry out intelligent technology R&D applications for intelligent transport assistance, intelligent equipment for special operation links, and large-scale modeling of coal mines, improve the continuous operation level of auxiliary transport systems and the machine substitution rate for manual labor in on-site operation links, and achieve extensive expansion of intelligent application scenarios. 3. Implementation (1) Application organization. The coal industry management departments (leading departments for intelligent coal mine construction) of coal-producing provinces and regions, relevant central enterprises should evaluate the operation of local (enterprise) coal mine intelligent construction, focusing on the common problems in intelligent construction operation, select pilot directions with emphasis, and organize coal production enterprises to prepare pilot project proposals (see Annex 2 for format). The project proposal should include the work foundation, construction content, construction objectives, technical solutions, capital investment, time schedule, etc. Each project applicant unit selects one pilot direction for application. (2) Initial review and recommendation. The coal industry management departments (leading departments for intelligent coal mine construction) of coal-producing provinces and regions, relevant central enterprises are responsible for conducting an initial review of the application materials and selecting the proposed projects. The review should adhere to the principle of quality over quantity, strictly control the number of recommendations, generally not exceeding 5 projects per locality (Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi should not exceed 10), with a limit of 2 projects of the same pilot category. (3) Expert selection. The National Energy Administration organizes experts from the coal mine intelligent database to conduct reviews, mainly examining the completeness and scientific nature of the application materials, whether the content of the application conforms to the actual intelligent construction, whether the construction content, technical solutions, capital investment, etc., are feasible, as well as the possibility of breakthroughs and future promotability. Depending on the application situation, the project applicant unit may be invited for on-site defense if necessary. (4) Construction announcement. The National Energy Administration announces the list of projects that have passed expert review. The pilot project construction unit should prepare an implementation plan outlining the construction objectives, key breakthrough directions, main technical solutions, time schedule, and financial and technical support, advance the pilot work solidly, ensure the smooth progress and timely completion of pilot projects. (5) Acceptance and promotion. After the completion of pilot projects, the coal industry management departments (leading departments for intelligent coal mine construction) of coal-producing provinces and regions, relevant central enterprises should organize experts from the coal mine intelligent database to evaluate and accept the pilot projects, and submit acceptance materials to the National Energy Administration. The National Energy Administration organizes experts to randomly inspect related materials, publish them after passing the inspection, and organize industry learning and promotion applications. 4. Work requirements (1) The proposed projects should align with pilot directions, meet the requirements of solid preliminary work, leading technological level, and reasonable process systems, and have a significant leading and driving effect. Priority support is given to new projects proposed for intelligent construction, and it is encouraged for operational projects with intelligent systems already in place to undergo iterative upgrades and innovation breakthroughs. The project applicants include coal mining enterprises (coal preparation plants), and it is encouraged for coal machine equipment manufacturing enterprises, research units, and high-tech enterprises to jointly apply as collaborating units. (2) The coal industry management departments (leading departments for intelligent coal mine construction) of coal-producing provinces and regions, relevant central enterprises are requested to submit the recommendation form (Annex 3) and related materials (including electronic versions) to the National Energy Administration (Coal Department) before September 15, 2025. The construction period of the pilot projects should not exceed 3 years in principle, and regular self-evaluations should be conducted during the pilot period to form annual progress reports, which should be submitted to the provincial coal industry management departments (leading departments for intelligent coal mine construction) and relevant central enterprises and then submitted to the National Energy Administration before the end of January each year. (3) The coal industry management departments (leading departments for intelligent coal mine construction) of coal-producing provinces and regions, and relevant central enterprises should strengthen organizational guidance, enhance monitoring and tracking, promptly coordinate solutions to common problems, and strive to achieve practical results. Encourage local governments and enterprises to provide policy support, funding, and other support for pilot work, creating a favorable environment for pilot projects. The National Energy Administration will strengthen the coordination and guidance of the pilot work, increase policy support for pilot projects in accordance with relevant regulations, timely organize pilot work promotion meetings and experience exchange meetings for publicity, promote the dissemination of typical experiences and mature models nationwide. This article is compiled from the official website of the National Energy Administration; GMTEight Editor: Chen Xiaoyi.