CHINA has approved four major power projects worth a total of 12.5 billion yuan (US$2.01 billion) in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The four thermal power plants will generate a combined capacity of 2.8 million kilowatts and replace a large number of smaller, less efficient, and heavily polluting generation units in the coal-rich region in China's far northwest, according to a statement posted on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission yesterday.

The four plants will be capable of generating 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually for Xinjiang and consume 7.6 million tons of coal per year.

The Shenhua Group Corp and China Huaneng Group will build one each while China Guodian Corp will build two, the NDRC, the nation's top planning agency, said.

Xinjiang has a combined power capacity of 27.4 million kilowatts, after adding 6.03 million kilowatts last year and 5.3 million kilowatts in 2011.

The region generated 118.8 billion kilowatt-hours of power last year, an annual surge of 35.8 percent. That compared with the national average growth of 4.52 percent.