The loan will expand the coverage of district heating to more than 270,000 residents in five highly polluted urban areas of Shanxi province. Small, inefficient and polluting inner-city coal-fired boilers and household coal-fired stoves will be replaced with highly energy efficient combined heat and power plant, large heat boilers, and gas boilers using coal mine methane, thereby reducing the overall environmental footprints of district heating. It will also build a coal mine methane gas supply and distribution system in Liulin, that will supply gas to 30,000 households and 120 commercial customers.