West powers up nation's east
( 2003-07-01 08:02) (China Daily)
Electrical shortages in economically booming Guangdong Province will be further slashed after the Guizhou-Guangdong transmission project was kicked into gear Monday.
Construction of the project started in November 2001 at a cost of 3.03 billion yuan (US$366 million) -- it is designed to transmit 1.5 million kilowatts of power from Southwest China's Guizhou Province to Guangdong Province, one of the nation's economic engines.
The undertaking is part of the country's plan to deliver 10 million kilowatts of electricity from the west to Guangdong by 2005.
The completion of the latest power installment, the sixth transmission project from west to east, means output has risen to 5 million kilowatts.
The half a dozen projects presently contribute to about 25 per cent of the province's power grid.
"The Guizhou-Guangdong transmission project will play an important role in solving power shortages during peak hours in Guangdong and in optimizing the distribution of natural resources among the country's eastern and western regions,'' said Yuan Maozhen, president of the Southern Power Grid.
Guangdong's economic boom has equated to a steep rise in the demand of power by residents and industry.
Civil demand has increased 10 per cent annually since 1990. Electrical supplies to large enterprises in this year's January to May period were almost 33 per cent higher when compared with the same period in 2002.
Even though the province has increased its construction of power plants in recent years, Guangdong is still short 1.5 million kilowatts of electricity during the second quarter this year.
The Guizhou-Guangdong project will be able to reduce the deficit to about 500,000 kilowatts in the third quarter.
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