Asia Pulse, 25 April 2005 - China's years-long power shortages are expected to be alleviated by 2007, according to Sun Jiaping, director of Energy and Information Committee of Chinese Society of Electrical Engineering.

Sun said that electricity is a necessity for the development of the modern society and its sustainable development bases on the coordinated growth of electricity, economy, energy and environment. The development of electricity should be consistent with that of the whole economy. Experiences of all countries in the world demonstrate that in the phase of industrialization, the rate of electricity development should surpass that of GDP growth, he added.

In accordance with the energy and resources conditions, economic and social development of China, the country attaches great importance to electricity restructure, efficiency and safety enhancement and pollution reduction, according to Sun. Based on extensive investigation and calculation, the installed capacity of the country should increase by an average of 6 per cent over the next 20 years to reach 950 million to one billion kW by 2020. Electricity production and per capita electricity consumption should also reach 430 million-480 million kWh and 3,000 kWh respectively by then.

Sun said that the dominant position of thermal power would remain unchanged by 2020, when its production would reach more than 600 million kW. Meanwhile, China will optimize the structure of thermal power and raise efficiency. Besides, the country will also develop LNG power and clean coal technology.

The exploitation of hydropower, nuclear power and renewable energy is also put on the agenda. Sun said that China has 370 million kWh of hydropower reserves, of which 100 million kWh has been developed. By 2020, it is expected to reach 245 million kWh. There are also good prospects for the development of wind power in Inner Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. However, the wind power currently developed was only 570,000 kW, less than one third that of India, ranking ninth in the world. The exploitation of renewable energy including wind power, solar and biomass energy should reach 20 million kW by 2020 and that of nuclear power should amount to 40 million kW.

For China, power grids construction is regarded as a project of strategic importance. The national power grids, transnational power grids and the transmission of electricity from the west to the east could transmit 120-million kW of electricity; the mutual supply between north and south China could reach 12 million kW.

China's electricity utilization ratio is quite low, said Sun. If advanced management is adopted, about 200 billion kWh of electricity could be saved annually.

Copyright 2005 Asia Pulse Pte Limited
Asia Pulse