China Connects Power Grids Together, Expands Coverage
January 11, 2006 - Zijun Li
 China's
economy grew by an average of 9.9
percent between 1993 and 2004, accelerating the
demand for electricity and necessitating expansion
of the country's disperse power transmission and distribution
network.
In 2005, the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC),
the nation's largest power grid builder, invested
a total of 9.21 billion yuan (US$1.15 billion) in
grid construction and transmission lines, according
to ChinaNews.
China's overall electricity transmission capacity
is 62.3 million kilowatts, with power lines covering
a total of 12,333 kilometers.
Over the past year, China has linked together six
major regional grids to boost its electricity transmission
capacity, enabling adjustments in power load among
the different regional networks. The SGCC completed
grid-connection projects in the northwestern and central
regions in July 2005, adding to the existing linkages
among the five grids in the northeastern, northern,
central, eastern, and southern regions. Completion
of the projects has expedited power transmission from
China's resource-rich west to the energy-hungry east,
optimizing the distribution and use of existing power
resources.
Construction of high-voltage electricity networks
has accelerated as well. China's highest-voltage transmission
lines were put into operation in October 2005, linking
Qinghai Province with Gansu Province in the northwest.
By January 4, the lines had transmitted a total of
250 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, after operating
smoothly for 100 days.
China's 2006-2010 plan for state grid expansion will
focus mainly on the construction of more extra-high-tension
power grids, of 750-kilovolts or higher. SGCC plans
to significantly expand existing 750-kilovolt lines
in the west to 4,730 kilometers by 2010. In addition,
the central government is planning a demonstration
project for one 1,000-kilovolt and several 800-kilovolt
transmission lines by 2010, to cover more regions
with rising demand for electrical power.
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