The Harbin Power Plant Equipment Group, based in the capital city of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has signed an agreement with the Australian company HRL Ltd to build a coal-gasification power project which is sympathetic to the environment.

The project, to be located in Victoria, Australia, will employ the HRL's electricity generating technology based on brown coal gasification and will have a generation capacity of 400,000 kilowatts.

The technology is reportedly able to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 30 percent and water consumption by 50 percent.

Sources with the Chinese company said the project is the largest ever power project based on clean brown coal gasification and China's largest power plant equipment export project in a developed nation.

Most equipment for the project will be supplied by the Chinese company at a value of more than 500 million Australian dollars.

Chinese company sources said the Harbin Power Plant Equipment has also clinched a deal with the Australian company to cooperate in five similar projects in other developed nations.??

(Xinhua New Agency May 4, 2006)