Beijing's power supply capability increased 124 percent from 2001, said Liu Yinchun, an official from the Beijing Municipal Energy and Economic Operation Leading Team Office.

The city has invested more than 60 billion yuan (US$8.8 billion) aggregately to improve its energy infrastructures since it won the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, said Liu.

Beijing's annual energy consumption amount has risen an average of 6.1 percent since it started preparations for the Olympic Games, while its GDP rose 12.2 percent annually in the corresponding period. An increasingly enhanced supply of high-quality energy including power, natural gas and oil supported the city's rapid economic development with lower energy consumption.

At the end of June 2008, Beijing had 344 transformer sub-stations each with a capacity of 110 kilovolts or more. The city's blackout time reduced 3.65 hours per household in 2007, down 40 percent compared with the country's 11th Five-Year Program (2006-2010) period.

The city's natural gas transmission capability reached 15.3 billion cubic meters per year, four times that of 2001. Natural gas is used more widely to meet residents' demand for household uses such as hot water and cooking.

The central heating network in Beijing reached 837 kilometers and covered an area of 130 million square meters in 2007, double that of 2001. The city's total heating area reached 560 million square meters, up 240 million square meters from 2000, making it has the largest heating areas nationwide.

(China Daily July 17, 2008)