A large-scale garbage power plant, capable of generating 140 million kwh of electricity annually, will officially begin operation next month in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province.

With an investment of 360 million yuan (US$45 million), the power plant will handle 1,000 tons of garbage every day, half of the city's total.

A source with the plant said, apart from the 140 million kwh of electricity, the power plant can also generate 4.1 billion joule of heat energy annually, which could provide heating for an area of 500,000 square meters.

The power plant will help protect the city's environment, which has been greatly damaged by polluted air from coal mines and factories, the source said.

Shanxi is China's major coal producer, turning out more than 400 million tons last year, about one quarter of the country's total.

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2006)