BEIJING, June 3 -- The largest coal-fired boiler house in urban Beijing was shut down on Tuesday, as part of the government's plan to cut pollution in the capital city.

The boiler house, which has four boilers with a total capacity of 80 tons of vapor per hour, accounts for over a fifth of the total coal-fired boiler capacity in urban Beijing and provides heating for a rail equipment manufacturing company and 20,000 local residents.

The boiler house, located near the famous Marco Polo bridge in Fengtai District, will be replaced with three gas-fired boilers before November, when the city's centrally controlled heating is turned on for the winter.

The boiler house used 40,000 tons of coal and emitted 54 tons of sulfur dioxide, 57 tons of nitric oxide, 45 tons of dust and 1 ton of volatile organic compounds per year.

Beijing plans to close all coal-fired boilers in urban areas by the end of this year, according to a government work plan released in April.

Of the four major coal-fired power plants in Beijing, three have been closed so far and the last is scheduled to be closed next year. They will be replaced with four gas-fired power plants.

Beijing is aiming to limit annual coal consumption to 15 million tons in 2015 and 10 million tons in 2017.