Beijing shuts two more coal-fired power plants

Beijing has stepped up its efforts to switch to clean energy after it shut two of the large coal-fired power plants that supply power to the city during the weekend.

Prominent among them is the 66-year-old thermal power plant operated by the State-owned Guohua Electric Power Co, which will be replaced by a gas-fired plant, according to a statement by the Beijing Commission of Development and Reform, the city's economic planner.

The 400-megawatt plant has been running since 1949 in the east of the capital's financial district, along Chang'an Avenue, which passes Tian'anmen Square in the heart of the city.