China to construct power plants in Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan

Jun 19, 2006 - Kyodo News

Energy-hungry China has struck agreements with Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan to build power plants in the countries and import electricity from them, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

The agreements have been signed and details are under negotiation, Xinhua quoted Liu Zhaoshao, chief economist of the State Grid Corporation of China, as saying at a recent energy forum.

In Mongolia, the preliminary plan is to build three power plants with an installed capacity of 3.6 gigawatts each, Xinhua said. The first plant will begin operation by 2010, the report quoted another State Grid Corporation official as saying.

The State Grid Corporation will build the transmission lines, while the construction of the plants may be carried out by domestic companies, Xinhua said.

The project in Kazakhstan will follow the pattern of Mongolia's, while the power plants in Russia will be built by Russia, according to Xinhua. The agreements come at a time when China is boosting energy cooperation with resource-rich countries to meet its growing energy demands.

Russia and Kazakhstan are rich in oil and gas resources, while Mongolia has coal reserves.

While the question of transmission could remain for places like Kazakhstan, the project involving Russia probably makes sense because a grid is already in place, said Theresa Fallon, an energy analyst based in Beijing.

"There is a fairly well-developed northern grid in China, so that makes sense for Russia," she said.