The first phase facilities of Tibet's largest thermal power plant started production on Saturday to help relieve the winter power shortage on the chilly plateau.

To bridge a 30 percent of gap between demand and supply in the region, the China Huaneng Group, the nation's leading power generator, invested 300 million yuan in building up contingency projects in Lhasa and Ngari.

The projects involved nine sets of diesel generators with a capacity of 100,000 kilowatts in Lhasa and 10,000 kilowatts in Ngari.

After the first four sets of equipment start working, the other five will function as of the Lunar Spring Festival and the Tibetan New Year, or Losar, which will fall on February 14, the company said.

All the facilities will be transferred to the Tibet Autonomous Region government after the project is completed. By then, Lhasa will not suffer blackout anymore.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2010)