Mining equipment is the core carrier of green mine construction, mine energy conservation and carbon reduction, safe production and intelligent mining. However, old equipment, low energy efficiency and insufficient intelligence have always been the key pain points restricting the green transformation, quality and efficiency improvement of the mining industry.
Over the years, the country has intensively introduced a number of major policies, focusing on large-scale equipment renewal, green and low-carbon upgrading of manufacturing, and quality improvement of energy-saving equipment. Relying on the dual dividends of ultra-long-term special government bond funding and tax credits for special equipment renovation, it has comprehensively promoted iterative upgrades of equipment in the industrial field, opened up funding channels for green mining equipment upgrades, reduced enterprise transformation costs, and helped the mining industry accelerate towards a modern development stage of high efficiency, low carbon, intelligence, and safety.
Current policy dividends can not only solve the pain points of old mining equipment and low energy efficiency, but also promote green mines from “ecological restoration” to “ecological +”
“Energy efficiency and double excellence” advanced.
How to make policy dividends take root?
The key is to closely adhere to the core evaluation system of green mines and deeply bind equipment updates with GEI’s three-level penetration evaluation and intelligent mine construction.
Policy dividends directly address the pain points of green mining equipment.
Seven departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have clarified that by 2027, equipment investment in the industrial field will increase by more than 25%, and the energy efficiency of energy-using equipment in key industries must reach an energy-saving level (not lower than energy efficiency level 2).
This binding target just hits the “soft underbelly” of many mines: some mines are still using motors, air compressors and other equipment that have expired, and the energy efficiency is far below the Level 2 standard, which not only increases energy consumption costs, but also affects safety.
For example, old ventilation equipment not only consumes high power, but may also cause safety hazards due to failure.
The policy’s “ultra-long-term treasury bonds + tax credits” combination has precisely solved the funding problem for mines: the first batch of 93.6 billion yuan of treasury bonds in 2026 has supported 4,500 projects, of which energy conservation and carbon reduction are the focus; enterprises’ investments in digitalization and intelligent transformation can be tax deducted at a rate of 10%, which is particularly beneficial for mines to update unmanned mining equipment, intelligent ventilation systems, etc.
GEI evaluation system anchors the direction of equipment update.
Equipment updates in green mines cannot “blindly follow the trend” and must be aligned with the core requirements of GEI’s three-level evaluation system.
The GEI system forms a closed loop from the macro (8 major areas: energy efficiency, ecology, safety, etc.), the meso (35 key indicators: energy efficiency level of energy-using equipment) to the micro (123 specific standards: motor energy efficiency level 2 or above), providing a “roadmap” for the update of mining equipment.
For example, a coal mine used to use energy-efficiency level 3 motors, and energy consumption accounted for 15% of production costs; through policy support, it was updated to energy-efficiency level 1 energy-saving motors, which not only met the GEI micro standards, but also reduced energy consumption to 8%. At the same time, it complied with the “energy saving and carbon reduction” direction supported by national debt, achieving multiple goals with one stone.
On the other hand, if a mine only updates equipment but does not connect to the GEI evaluation, it may not be able to pass the green mine rating and miss out on subsequent policy incentives.
Equipment updating and ecological restoration synergize.
Equipment updates are not isolated and need to be combined with the “ecological restoration + industrial introduction” model to achieve the “1 + 1>2” effect.
For example, after an open-pit mine updated low-emission mining equipment, it introduced the photovoltaic industry in conjunction with ecological restoration (using the idle land after the mine was regreened), which not only met the energy efficiency requirements of the equipment, but also increased revenue through the introduction of the photovoltaic industry – this is the embodiment of the principle of “whoever governs benefits”.
In addition, the application of intelligent equipment (such as unmanned mining vehicles) can also reduce casualties, in line with the “safety and zero casualties” trend in the GEI system.
The requirement of “high-quality development of energy-saving equipment” in the policy is also highly consistent with the industrial supporting equipment (such as photovoltaic inverters, energy-saving irrigation equipment) after the ecological restoration of the mine. Enterprises can simultaneously plan equipment updates and industrial introduction to improve comprehensive benefits.
Practical suggestions for companies to grasp policies.
Facing the policy window period, mining companies need to pay attention to three points: First, thoroughly understand local rules: the application process and support conditions for ultra-long-term treasury bonds vary from region to region, and they need to be connected with the local development and reform department; for tax credits, it is necessary to confirm whether the transformation investment is within 50% of the original tax base. It is recommended to consult a tax or professional agency.
Second, GEI indicators: Before updating equipment, sort out the energy efficiency of existing equipment according to the GEI Micro 123 standard, give priority to replacing equipment below level 2, and combine with the trend of intelligence (unmanned equipment with few people) to improve safety levels.
The third is to synchronize industrial planning: After the equipment is updated, photovoltaic, ecological agriculture and other industries can be deployed in conjunction with the ecologically restored land, and energy-saving equipment (such as industrial heat pumps) supported by policies can be used to support the industry to achieve green benefits.
The east wind of the equipment update policy has injected a “boost” into the transformation of green mines.
But behind the opportunity comes responsibility.
Mining companies need to convert policy dividends into the actual results of green upgrades, closely follow the GEI evaluation system and ecological restoration + industry introduction model, so that equipment updates not only “qualify” but also “lead”.
As long as policies are accurately aligned and the core requirements of green mines are anchored, mines can be promoted from “resource-consuming” to “ecologically beneficial” and contribute to the high-quality development of the industry.
