Power transmission, new-energy sectors eye overseas growth

A man works on an ultra-high voltage transmission tower in Hong'an county in Hubei province. [Photo/China Daily]

China's ultra-high voltage transmission and new-energy industries will expand rapidly in the next three years, with a steady move into the overseas market, the chairman of a leading Chinese power transmission company said on Tuesday.

"The government is going to approve many UHV transmission projects in the coming years, to satisfy the energy demand during the economic expansion," said Zhang Xin, chairman of the Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co Ltd (TBEA) in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, at a news conference of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

"Unprecedented opportunities for China's UHV transmission and new-energy industries are coming, along with the government's plan to accelerate economic restructuring," he said.

Zhang said China's UHV transmission technique is reliable and up to commercial standards. He expects that China's total transmission capacity will be enlarged several times by the end of 2020.

Construction of the UHV transmission line from Huainan in Anhui province to Shanghai, which was approved by the State Council in October 2011, is well under way, he said.

On Nov 9, the company announced plans to invest 1.2 billion yuan ($192.6 million) into new projects at the wind-power and solar-power stations in Turpan in Xinjiang and Golmud in Qinghai, in spite of claims that the industry has been hit by overcapacity.

The TBEA reported a 20.56 percent drop in net profit to 540 million yuan in the first half of this year, mainly because of the low profitability of solar photovoltaic products.

In addition, the recent anti-dumping and anti-subsidies investigations conducted by the United States and European Union have added pressure to the industry's development in China.

BP Plc transferred all its equity in two solar business joint ventures out of the TBEA in October, ending the British oil giant's investment in China's solar business, and decided to exit China's solar market after seven years.

To improve the business situation, the TBEA chairman plans to pay more attention to overseas expansion.

"Now we are equipping China, and we aim to equip the world," he said.

Zhang said the company will expand its business, especially in emerging economies.

The company has a $500 million State grid construction project in Tajikistan and another $580 million north-south grid construction project in Kyrgyzstan. The latter is the largest energy deal between China and Kyrgyzstan to date.

The TBEA has also entered India recently, eyeing its great growth potential. "So far the investment in India has been very successful," Zhang said.

According to Lu Yanxia, director of the Mumbai Office at SEPCO III, the largest Chinese contractor of power plant in India, China's power plant builders have played a major role in lifting Indian power generation and hastening the transformation of its infrastructure in recent years.

chenjia1@chinadaily.com.cn