China Starts World's Largest Methane Gas Fired Power Plant

China’s Lu'an Group has completed world’s largest facility to turn excess methane gas from coal mines into electricity, according to state owned Xinhua news agency.

The facility is located in north China's Shanxi Province.

The company announced on Tuesday it would soon start operating the generator with a capacity of 30 megawatts, capable of utilizing 99 percent of methane gas discharged from the coal mine, Xinhua added.

Jia Jian, deputy head of the Methane Gas Research Institute of the company, said by recovering and utilizing the gas, the project can help reduce 1.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gases and produce 200 million kwh of electricity a year, the news agency reported.

China's coal mines produce more than 10 billion cubic meters of low-concentration methane gas each year, which causes greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.