The Gaojing Thermal Power Plant in Beijing Municipality has shifted from burning coal to natural gas, demonstrating the city's gradual shift toward generating electricity with the cleaner-burning fuel, China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) said in a newsletter on Feb. 22.

CNPC will deliver 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the power plant this year via its Shaanxi-Beijing gas pipeline, which is fed by the Changqing Oilfield in western China, according to the newsletter. Datang International Power Generation Co. Ltd. operates the power plant.

CNPC noted that Beijing plans to refit the Gaobeidian and Shijingshan thermal power plants to burn natural gas. It also plans to demolish the downtown Dongjiao Thermal Power Plant and replace it with a new gas-fired power plant.

Beijing consumed 5.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2009, up by 22 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the Beijing Gas Group. The city aims to increase natural gas consumption to 7 billion cubic meters in 2010.

It is estimated that Beijing will need 18 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually by 2015. To meet the demand, CNPC is building a third phase of the Shaanxi-Beijing gas pipeline to increase the gas supply to the city.

China's natural gas consumption has risen quickly over the last few years as part of the government's effort to improve the country's environment.

According to a previous plan, China's natural gas consumption will account for 5.3 percent of the country's energy usage in 2010, up from 2.8 percent in 2005.

The National Development and Reform Commission's (NDRC) Energy Research Institute forecast that the country will consume 250 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually by 2020.