BEIJING -- China will increase its thermal power output capacity by 80 million kilowatts this year, as thermal power continues to play a major role in the country's power supply.

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From 2011 to 2015, China will increase its thermal power capacity by 260 million to 270 million kilowatts, Zhang Guobao, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's economic planning body, said Thursday at a work conference on energy.

The thermal power projects will be mainly located in the coal-rich western regions of China, Zhang said.

At the end of 2008, thermal power generated about 75 percent of China's installed electricity capacity, which stood at 792 million kilowatts, according to the China Electricity Council.

China's installed electricity capacity had exceeded 900 million kilowatts by September 2010, according to the council.