Hebei expects to invest 165.2 billion yuan in its electricity supply during the 12th Five-Year period(2011-15), almost double that of the previous five-year period, a Hebei Development and Reform Commissioner said.

In the next five years, officials will install 24.13 million kilowatts of power capacity at a yearly rate of 9.5 percent, adding the provincial total capacity to 65.65 million kilowatt by 2015. This increase is in response to the annual 8.1 percent increase in demand for electricity.

Apart from the main coal-fire power capacity of 53.6 million kilowatts, clean energies, including hydropower, wind power and biomass energy, are expected to account for 15 percent of the newly installed sources in the area by the end of 2015, 8 percent higher than in 2010.

Meanwhile, Hebei government officials will strengthen the crack down on thermal power pollutants. All new thermal power projects should be equipped with efficient dust removal, desulphurization machines and equipment to remove nitrous oxide.

These initiatives are expected to reduce the average coal consumption from 345 grams per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2010 to 330 g/kWh in five years.

By Guo Changdong and Zhang Nan