Chinese capital Beijing is closing its fourth major coal-fired power plant in the city next year. The 845MW power plant being operated by China Huaneng Group Corporation is to be shut down as part of nation-wide pollution-control measures.
Last year a study showed that Beijing was twice as polluted as the rest of the country.
In place of the plants being closed, gas-powered stations with the capacity to supply more than two-and-a-half times more electricity than the present are to be opened in the city.
Beijing also plans to cut its annual coal consumption by 13 million metric tons by 2017, a move expected to reduce concentration of pollutants in the city.
If all the major coal-based power plants in the city are closed, it would save 9.2 million metric tons of coal annually — that is equal to about 30 million tons of pollutants.
Coal is the leading source of carbon-dioxide emissions and it is the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel of the lot.
China considers closing coal-fired power plants a key measure toward cutting pollution, although the 64 percent of the primary energy the country uses comes from coal.
Last year China’s emissions of carbon dioxide showed a 2 percent decrease compared with figures in 2013 showing that efforts to control pollution were gaining traction.
The city is also focusing on closing polluted companies and cutting cement production capacity to clear the air this year, the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau has stated.
Ajith Kumar S
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