China Plans $14.6 Billion High-Voltage Lines Spending

By Wang Ying

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- State Grid Corp. of China, the nation's largest power distributor, plans to spend more than 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion) to build ultra-high voltage electricity lines over the next three to four years.

The links will transmit electricity from remote hydro and coal-fired generators in the west to eastern or central China more efficiently and at a lower cost compared with conventional lines, Vice President Shu Yinbiao said in Beijing today. Ultra- high voltage lines can transmit about four times more power than conventional grid.

A slowing economy hasn't prevented China, the world's biggest energy consumer after the U.S., from investing in energy projects to ensure sufficient supplies for future demand. State Grid needs to invest more than 1.2 trillion yuan in its network in the five years ending 2010, it said in August.

``Construction of ultra-high voltage lines is in line with the central government's strategy to meet the country's long- term energy need,'' Shu told reporters.

China's power demand may more than double to 7.4 billion megawatt-hours by 2020 and its generating capacity may increase by a similar rate to 1,470 gigawatts, spokesman Lu Jian said.

State Grid officially started operating the country's first ultra-high voltage line at a cost of 5.86 billion yuan ($857 million) on Jan. 6, Lu said. The line links the southeastern part of Shanxi, the country's biggest coal- producing region, with Jingmen city in the central province of Hubei, he said.

The Beijing-based electricity distributor has obtained state approval to build two additional high-voltage transmission lines to send power from hydropower plants in Sichuan to Shanghai and the eastern province of Jiangsu, Shu said. Total spending on the two lines will exceed 40 billion yuan, Shu added.

China increased spending on power grids by 18 percent to 288.5 billion yuan last year, the Beijing-based China Electricity Council said on Jan. 5.

-- With reporting by Winnie Zhu in Shanghai. Editors: Ang Bee Lin, Jane Lee.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wang Ying in Beijing at ywang30@bloomberg.net.