Projects to ease severe power shortage
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-06-08 11:09

A 500-kilovolt project transferring power from the Three Gorges to South China's Guangdong Province was put into use on June 6 to help alleviate the severe power shortage in the coastal area.

"Currently the power supply shortage in the country has not been eased, and the power consumption peak days to come in summer make us less optimistic," said Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan in Beijing at a ceremony celebrating the operation of the project.

The construction of the project transferring power from the Three Gorges to Guangdong was an important decision made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, Zeng said, noting it is of great importance for the alleviation of Guangdong's power shortage.

Demand for electric power in 24 Chinese provinces exceeded supply in peak hours in the first four months this year, causing brownouts, though the annual power use peak has yet to come.

The electricity consumption in China amounted to 650.5 billion kwh in the first four months this year, up 16.1 percent year-on-year, according to the State Electric Power Regulatory Commission.

In the coming third quarter this year, the country will be short of around 30 million kw of electricity, said sources with the China Electricity Council.

"We are busy building a number of new power projects to meet the surging power demand in the summer peak days," said General Manager Zhao Xizheng of the State Power Grid Company at the ceremony.

The Three Gorges-Guangdong project is another large-scale power transferring project after a 500-kilovolt project began transferring power from the Three Gorges to Changzhou City in East China's Jiangsu Province, where the electricity shortage problem is extremely serious.

It only took 24 months to build the Three Gorges-Guangdong project, 10 months shorter than the Three Gorges-Changzhou project, according to the State Power Grid Company that built the project.

The project quality must be ensured, and efforts should be taken to put more power units into use, said Zeng.

The development of industries consuming large amounts of power must be controlled, and the power supply for residents' life and important users must be guaranteed, he said, stressing power saving measures and power price system adjustment.

Close