West-to-East Electricity Transmission Project in Chian
3 min readThe major power generation plants in China are located in western and northern China.But the main power consumption is concentrated in the areas along and east ofBeijing-Guangzhou railway.The West-to-East Electricity Transmission Project aims to transmit power from electricity-rich west regions to the economically prosperous eastern areas.
The basic structure of the project is to build three power supply passages，which are the north，central，and south routes.
The north route includes the northeastern，northern，Shangdong，and northwestern power grids.It uses the water energy from northwestern regions to supply electricity to power grids in Beijing，Tianjin，Hebei and Shandong provinces.
The central route includes the eastern China，central China，Sichuan-Chongqing，and Fujian power grids.It is powered by water from Yangtze River to supply electricity to central china，eastern china，and Fujian area.It covers the widest area in the whole West-to-East Electricity Transmission Project and holds special position in the country’s power network.
The south route includes Kengkou power grids in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.It is powered by Wujiang River in Guizhou province，Lancang River and Hongshui River in Yunnan Province and supplies electricity to Guangdong province.
The massive West-to-East Electricity Transmission Project is a key component of the Chinese government’s western development project.It combines the resource-rich western area with the huge market in eastern China.The project is expected to accelerate the development of China’s power industry and national economy.
West-to-East Power Project Pays Off
Hydro-electric stations in western China are lighting up homes hundreds of kilometers away as the massive west-to-east electricity transmission project comes online.
The project will exploit the abundant hydro-power resources in southwest China’sGuizhou，Yunnan and Sichuan provinces and transfer electricity eastward to south，central and north China.Shanghai，Jiangsu，Zhejiang，Beijing，Tianjin and Tangshan will benefit from the power-transmission project.
Yunnan Province，one of the leading power providers in southwest China，transmitted 1.1 billion kWh of electricity to Guangdong Province，an economic powerhouse in south China，in the first seven months of this year.
Moreover，the traditional pattern of transmitting power only in the wet season has been replaced by regular power transmission throughout the year.
An official with the Yunnan Provincial Power Group estimated its annual transmission of electricity to Guangdong Province to be 3 billion kWh this year，which is more than the total amount of electricity Yunnan sent to Guangdong in the past five years.
With six rivers running through the province，Yunnan is a major power source in China with 90 million kW of exploitable installed capacity，ranking second in China.
The powerful Lancang River will become an energy depot not only for China，but alsofor southeast Asian countries.When the eight planned hydro-electric power stations are completed built in the middle and lower reaches of the river，the fifth longest in the country，they will generate 73 billion kWh of electricity annually.
Construction has started on the 4.2-million-kW Xiaowan Hydro-electric Power Station，the country’s second largest after the Three Gorges power station on the Yangtze River.
Work on the first phase of the Manwan Hydro-electric Power Station，with an installed capacity of 1.25 million kW，has been completed.Three generating units at the 1.35-million-kW Dachaoshan power plant have gone into operation.
By the end of 2005，the installed generating capacity of Yunnan soared to 8.51million kW，more than the anticipated capacity.
The province began to transmit power to Guangdong in 1993.However，the annual power transmission averaged 580 million kWh in the past nine years as a result of irrational structure and poor facilities.
To meet the growing demand for power supply in Guangdong，Yunnan has built an ultrahigh voltage super grid，a 500-kilovolt power converting station and a 500-kilovolt transmission line.It plans to invest 1.8 billion Yuan to build another 500一kilovolt power transmission and converting project in the near future.
Meanwhile，Sichuan will provide 750 million kWh of electricity each to Shanghai and Zhejiang this year，in addition to 4.9 billion KWh to neighboring Chongqing.
