Beijing’s southeast thermoelectric center in Chaoyang District recently began a one-week test run after the construction of its third and final phase project was completed, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.
The thermoelectric center is expected to be operational during this year’s winter heating season. Its full operation marks the completion of the construction of Beijing’s four major gas-fired thermoelectric centers, a project with a total investment of nearly 50 billion yuan (US$7.5 billion). The four centers will add a combined 7.24 million kilowatts of clean electricity as well as 100 million cubic meters of clean heating capacity, and cut the city's coal consumption by a total of 9.2 million tons annually.
Since 2013, Beijing has closed its four major coal-fired power plants and replaced them with four gas-fired plants located in the capital's southwest, northwest, southeast and northeast areas. As a result, Beijing will achieve natural gas-fired heating in all of its six downtown districts this winter.