China plans to close small power generation units by 2010, according to an official with China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The move comes as part of China's drive to remove power units that consume a lot of energy and produce severe pollution.

China faced a severe shortage in electricity supply in 2002 which resulted in the establishment of many small oil-fired generators.

By the end of 2004, the combined installed capacity of small power generating units around the country exceeded 86 gw, including 25 gw oil-fired units.

At a recent press conference held by the NDRC, Zhang Guobao, vice minister of NDRC, announced that China's total installed capacity had reached 531 million kilowatts, and more than 70 million kw of newly installed capacity are expected to be put into production this year.

It is a good opportunity for China to close small coal-fired and oil-fired units that use excessive energy and produce heavy pollution as a part of its industrial reshuffling, said Zhang.

According to China's power development project in the 2006-2010 period, China will make redoubled efforts to develop clean energy projects such as hydropower, nuclear power and replace small coal-fired or oil-fired power generation units with large, coal-fired units.

(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2006)