GUIYANG, Aug 15, 2007 -- AsiaPulse

China shut down small thermal power plants with installed capacity totaling 6.95 million kilowatts in the first half of the year, completing about 70 per cent of the pre-set goal in 2007.

This was learned from a national meeting of the State Development and Reform Commission held here on construction of big-capacity power plants and closure of smaller ones in south China.

China has seen rapid growth of the power industry in recent years. By 2006 the country's totaled installed capacity rose to 622 million kw, of which 75 per cent was from coal-fired thermal power plants which have turned out to be energy consuming and heavy polluting, said sources from the meeting.

The country has set out goals of reducing per-unit gross domestic product (GDP) energy consumption and discharge of main pollutants by 20 per cent and 10 per cent respectively by 2010 according to comparable figures of 2005.

To this end, China has decided to close small coal-fired generating units totaling 50 million kw, and fuel-fired power plants with capacities totaling between 7 million to 10 million kilowatts during the 2006-2010 period.

Small thermal power plants with installed capacity below 100,000 kw each totaled 115 million kilowatts, accounting for about 30 per cent of installed thermal power capacity. They contributed nearly 40 per cent of the 14 million tons of sulfur dioxide discharged into the air by the country's power industry last year.

If the generating units with small capacities are replaced by those with big capacities, the country could be spared from the discharge of 2.2 million tons of sulfur dioxide each year.

(XIC)

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