A project to transfer electricity from the China's resource-rich west to energy-thirsty east started construction in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

At an estimated cost of 35 billion yuan (about 5 billion U.S. dollars), the project is designed with an installed capacity of 10 million kw, which is expected to deliver 55 billion kwh of power with the consumption of 30 million tonnes of local coal annually.

According to the national plan, nine power transmission bases and 12 major power channels are included in China's west-east power transmission program.

A total of 70 million kw of capacity is expected to be installed, which will satisfy the power demands of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions by 2020.