Yangquan is located in the northeast of Qinshui Coalfield. The coal resources have the advantages of shallow burial, large reserves, easy mining and high quality. The Yangquan has 1,835 square kilometers of coal mines and 17.3 billion metric tons of geological reserves, of which 1,051 square kilometers of coal mines and 10.2 billion tons of geological reserves are contained in the administrative region of Yangquan urban area. More than 70 percent of the area's coal is low sulfur, low ash and high quality anthracite with ash content of 10-20 percent, sulfur content of 0.5-0.7 percent, and calorific value of more than 8,000 kcal/kg. 

There are 53 coal mines in the city, producing 53.73 million tons of raw coal. The main products, including washed moderate coal, washed small coal, washed coal, slack coal, spray-blow coal and other varieties, are mainly sold to 16 provinces and municipalities such as Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu provinces and Shanghai, and are exported to Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Belgium and other countries. In recent years, in order to achieve sustainable development, the Yangquan coal industry adjusted its industrial and product structure, integrated coal resources, actively promoted the integration of coal, electricity and aluminum and the development of the coal chemical industry, accelerating the transformation with the aid of coal resources. 

Yangquan's bauxite is famous for its large reserves, high grade, few impurities, shallow burial and easy mining. The proven recoverable deposits of bauxite in Yangquan is 710 million tons, the second in the world (only to Guyana), and the alumina content is over 65%, making it one of the main bauxite bases in China. Relying on those abundant resources, Yangquan's aluminum industry is booming. After more than 20 years of construction, an aluminum industry chain with alumina, electrolytic aluminum, aluminum profiles and other leading products has been formed. Products of local large enterprises including Yuxian Xixiaoping Refractories Co, Yangquan Xiaqian Refractories Co, Shanxi Holy Fire Furnace Materials Co and other enterprises, are sold to major domestic steel enterprises and exported to other places of the world, enjoying a good reputation in domestic and foreign markets. 

Based on advantages in coal and electricity, the city will focus on the development of serial products such as alumina, electrolytic aluminum, aluminum profiles, aluminum foil, plate and strip, wire rod, and alloy rod, insist on value-added processing, and implement asset integration, capital reorganization and property right reform. In each of the next few years, the city will produce 1.2 million tons of alumina and 500,000 tons of electrolytic aluminum, making the aluminum industry an important competitive industry in the city. 

With good thermal power development conditions, Yangquan is the nearest city to the east in the West-to-East Power Transmission Project, and is one of the regions with the lowest transmission costs. At present, there are six power generation enterprises in the city with a total installed capacity of 2.80 million kilowatts. The main power generation enterprises such as Shanxi Yangguang Power Generation Co., Ltd. (4× 320,000 kilowatts), Shanxi Hepo Power Generation Co., Ltd. (2× 350,000 kilowatts), Zhaofeng Coal Gangue Power Plant of Yangquan Coal Group (3× 135,000 kilowatts), Nanmei Longchuan Coal Gangue Power Plant (2× 135,000 kilowatts) will form a total installed capacity of 7.5 million kilowatts in the future. 

In terms of photovoltaic power generation, the city has now completed a grid-connected ground photovoltaic power station with a total installed capacity of 1.19 million kilowatts, including the 100,000 kilowatts project of Yu County Jinyang New Energy Power Generation Co, Ltd, the 15,000 kilowatts project of Xiyan Town CGN, the 20,000 kilowatts project of Yangquan Changsheng New Energy Solutions Inc, and the 50,000 kilowatts project of Pingding Dongfang New Energy Power Generation Co, Ltd. Almost 11,800 kilowatts of photovoltaic power were generated in counties and districts, and the plan for a photovoltaic base with a total scale of 2.2 million kilowatts has been approved by National Energy Administration. Grid connection of 1 million kilowatts has now been realized. 

In terms of wind power generation, the city has achieved grid connection, with installed capacity of 117,800 kilowatts, including the 49,500 kilowatts first-phase project, the 48,300 kilowatts second-phase project and the 20,000 kilowatts third-phase project of CGN in Yuxian county.