Beijing will be the official host of the Games, taking place in February, but some skiing and snowboarding events will take place in Zhangjiakou, some 170 km (105 miles) northwest of the capital.

The gas pipeline project will feature six branch lines of a major Shaanxi-Beijing trunkline that will each run 173.7 km to Zhangjiakou, PipeChina said in a statement, putting the total annual transmission capacity at 3.2 billion cubic metres.

It is scheduled to start operation in October, the company added.

The project will be able to supply 220,000 households in Zhangjiakou as well as all athletes' residences and venues in the area, helping to reduce the environmental impact of the Olympics and of local energy consumption, PipeChina said.