China’s Massive Power Transfer Project Supplies Electricity to Eastern Cities

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With the demand growing at 9 percent annually，it has embarked on a massive power project to supply its energy-guzzling cities on the east coast.

Boasting rich resources for hydroelectric and thermal power generation，China’ssouthwestern province of Guizhou is known for its massive power stations which supply millions of kilowatts of electricity to the country’s eastern coastal areas.

Given China’s severe imbalance in power generating capacity，the Chinese government started a massive”West-to-East Power Transfer”project in 2000.

Now every year，electricity is sent from big power generating provinces such as Guizhou and Guangxi in the West，to big energy consumers like Guangdong and Shanghai in the East.

The project forms an important part of China’s”Developing the West”strategy. which aims to help western provinces like Guizhou develop their impoverished economies.

The surge in power output has fuelled the demand for coal-often putting power plants at the mercy of suppliers.

It sparked an energy crisis last year and even Guizhou’s largest power generating companies were not spared.

Bai Jiang，General Manager，Guodian Anshun Generating Co，said，“Anshun Power Plant encountered a severe shortage of coal last year.It was mainly because demand for coal in the neighbouring provinces was also very high.They offered higher prices and many of the suppliers sold the coal to them.” And even with enough coal，its quality would be questionable，as unscrupulous suppliers would often bulk it up with waste rock and rubbish.

Such burning concerns put immense pressure on power plants like Anshun Power，which have to work hard to guarantee a stable supply of electricity to its eastern customers.

Bai Jiang said，“This year，we had no reduction in power supply this year due to shortage of coal.The quantity（of coal）is now adequate and the quality has also improved significantly compared to last year.We’ve already set aside land and depending on the market conditions，including the coal situation，we may embark on our third phase of expansion.”

While power suppliers gear up for growth，China is at the same time urging its big power-consuming cities to curb their thirst for energy by developing energy-saving technologies.