The capital has closed several coal plants as it steps up its campaign to curb pollution in recent years. (Photo : Reuters)
Beijing has intensified its fight against air pollution in preparation for its bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, whose city-deciding vote is now less than 100 days away.
The city has renewed its anti-pollution drive, including closing several coal power plants, to bring back "APEC Blue," a term coined by Chinese netizens to describe Beijing's clear skies during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in November the previous year.
One of the plants that was shut down was Guohua Beijing Thermal Plant, once a key facility in Beijing's heating system, state-owned Xinhua News Agency said in its report on Wednesday.
The plant, whose 240-meter chimney has become a distinctive landmark in the city's skyline, was recently shuttered under a government plan.
According to official government data, the plant's closure will help reduce Beijing's coal usage by 1.3 million tonnes, or 14 percent of the city's total goal for the year. The shutdown is also expected to slash emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide and dust by 1,410 tonnes, 2,690 tonnes and 420 tonnes, respectively.
The cleanup efforts are sorely needed in Beijing, a city frequently covered in acrid smog, particularly as the capital and the city of Zhangjiakou in neighboring Hebei Province are seeking a joint bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
Guohua is not the only plant to get the axe. Its shutdown comes a day after the closure of another 93-year-old thermal power plant operated by the Beijing Energy Investment Group in west Beijing. Of the four major coal-fired plants in the city, three have been closed so far and the last is scheduled to be closed in 2016.
Acrid smog has become a major source of nuisance in the capital, prompting city officials to issue preventative measures such as the closure of highly polluting industries, banning substandard vehicles, and increasing funding to combat pollution.
In 2014, Beijing closed 392 companies said to cause pollution, upgraded 116 types of environmental protection equipment, and cut 2.3 million tonnes of coal use by shutting down the Gaojing thermal power plant, one of the city's major coal-fired plants.
In a speech at the China Development Forum earlier this year, Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun said that the city is developing a long-term plan to combat smog and air pollution with neighboring Tianjin and Hebei, which have also been shrouded in smog in recent years.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has sent an evaluation team to China in March and will select the host city for the 2022 Winter Games from either Beijing or Almaty, Kazakhstan, on July 31 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
