SGCC begins construction of Qinghai-Tibet power transmission line
Shanghai. July 28. INTERFAX-CHINA - State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) began construction of the Qinghai-Tibet power transmission line on July 28, state media reported on the same day.
According to Shanghai Securities News, the 1,774-kilometer transmission line linking Golmud, Qinghai Province and Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region has a projected cost of RMB 13.92 billion ($2.05 billion). It is scheduled to start operation in 2012.
This transmission line will ensure the availability of power to Tibet during the low-flow period in winter when its hydropower output shrinks, the report said. In the summer peak consumption period, the project will transmit Tibet's excessive hydropower output to Qinghai.
From last November until this May, Tibet suffered a power shortage of nearly 260,000 megawatt-hours (MWh), or 21 percent of its actual power demand, according to Shanghai Securities News.
The report estimated that in the winter of 2012, the region will face a power shortage of 778,000 MWh, or 46 percent of its actual power demand at that time.
-TW