“Electric Engine” of China’s Economy
Nestling 52 kilometers southwest of Yadong County in southwestern China’s Tibet Autonomous Region is the Nathu La Pass.
Nathu La, meaning the “snowiest place” in Tibetan, is a mountain pass sitting 4,545 meters above sea level. Despite frequent bad weather, it remains the safest and most convenient route for Indian pilgrims to reach the holy mountain of Kangrinboqe and Lake Manasarovar.
Since China opened the new route via the Nathu La Pass in mid-2015, Indian pilgrims have been able to arrive in Tibet more conveniently and witness the tremendous changes that the autonomous region has undergone. Currently, there are three “celestial tracks” running through the plateaus of Tibet: highroad, railway, and power grid.
Tibet’s power grid network consists of the Central Tibet Power Grid, the Qamdo Power Grid, and the Nagri Power Grid, of which the Central Tibet and Qamdo power grids are connected to Qinghai and Sichuan provinces, respectively. They link Tibet’s power grid network to the national power grid. By the end of 2015, Tibet’s installed power generation capacity had exceeded 2 million kilowatts (kW), and its power consumption totaled 500 million kilowatt hours (kWh), increasing by 260 times and 180 times compared to the period when the autonomous region was just established.
Obviously, the explosive growth of its electricity supply has facilitated Tibetan people to enjoy modern life. The development of Tibet’s power industry just mirrors the enormous growth of the nation’s power industry.
THE LARGEST POWER GRID IN THE WORLD
Since the implementation of reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s, China’s economy has entered an era of fast growth. In the 21st century, especially, along with rapid industrialization, urbanization, marketization, and internationalization of China, the country’s power industry has also grown at a speed faster than the average growth rate of the previous 20 years. China now ranks first around the world in terms of installed power generation capacity, power consumption, and power grid scale.
The rapid development of China’s power industry is evidenced by the following figures:
By the end of 2002, the country’s installed power generation capacity was only 357 million kilowatts, and the figure soared to 1.51 billion kilowatts by the end of 2015, ranking first in the world. It is estimated that the figure will further grow to 1.61 billion kilowatts by the end of this year. From 2011 to 2014, China topped the world in electricity production. The proportion of 300,000kW or above-leveled thermal power generation units in the total thermal power generation units increased from 41.5 percent in 2003 to 77.2 percent in 2014. Moreover, China has seen an increasingly rapid development in hydropower, nuclear power, and renewable energy. In 2014, its installed hydropower capacity already exceeded 300 million kilowatts, with annual generation electricity of more than one trillion kWh, ranking first in the world; its installed nuclear power capacity reached 20.08 million kilowatts, and those under construction accounted for 40 percent of the world total. In 2015, installed capacity of wind power connected to the grid hit 130 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world. The figure was only 399,000 kilowatts in 2002.
China has also made remarkable achievements in power grid construction. Along with coordinated development of ultra-high voltage transmission lines, trans-regional grids, provincial grid frameworks, and urban-rural grid networks, China’s grid structure has been substantially improved. In 2002, China had only 787,000 kilometers of power transmission lines with voltage above 35 kilovolts and power switch capacity totaling 1.24 billion kilovoltamperes, which had increased to 1.63 million kilometers and 5.2 billion kilovolt-amperes by 2014, respectively. From 2002 to 2014, China’s per capita electricity consumption rose by 3.1 times. Electricity has been available for nearly 40 million Chinese residents who were previously inaccessible to electricity power.
HOW TO ACHIEVE NEW DEVELOPMENT
Despite the rapid development of China’s power industry, the nation’s per capita electricity consumption remains comparatively low. In 2014, on average, the Chinese consumed 4,078 kWh, equal to the level of the United States in the 1960s or that of South Korea in the 1990s. It is estimated that China’s per capita electricity consumption will reach 5,691 kWh in 2020. Even so, the figure is only 64 percent of the 2010 average of member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Some predict that with the steady development of China’s economy, the country’s per capita electricity consumption will maintain fast growth.
Moreover, China’s attempts to transform its growth mode and protect the environment as well as the rapid expansion of the IT industry in the internet+ era will stimulate new development of its power industry.
First, the ratio of coal used for power generation to total coal consumption will continue expanding. Currently, about half of the coal consumed in China is used to generate electricity, which is much lower than that of developed countries. For instance, the figure is 93 percent in the United States, 85 percent in Canada, 84 percent in Germany, and 75 percent in Britain, with the world average being 78 percent. Developed countries used coal to generate power through concentrate combustion, thus reducing pollution arising thereof. There is still enormous space for China to develop coal based power. Meanwhile, this also brings challenges to enhance efficiency and cleanness.
Second, it is a growing trend to generate electricity with clean energy. According to the China Electricity Council, by 2020, the country’s installed hydropower capacity will reach 360 million kilowatts, that of wind and solar power 280 million kilowatts, that of nuclear power 58 million kilowatts, and that of natural gas-generated electricity 100 million kilowatts. The proportion of electricity generated with non-fossil fuels is increasing year by year, whose installed capacity ratio will increase to 39 percent and 49 percent in 2020 and 2030, respectively. Meanwhile, their ratio in total electricity production will respectively reach 29 percent and 37 percent. Finally, ultra-high-voltage transmission lines will be more efficient in allocating power resources. In China, power resources are mostly distributed in the northern and northwestern areas, but southeastem China is the largest consumer of electricity. The country’s wind power and solar power resources, in particular, are concentrated in underdeveloped northern and western regions that have less demand for power. Thus, power resources in those regions need to be transformed into electricity for transmission to other parts of the country. The technology of ultra-highvoltage transmission is the solution to optimize the allocation of energy resources, by transferring extra power from western and northern China to the eastern and central regions.
GREAT POTENTIAL OF INDIA’S POWER INDUSTRY
Two severe blackouts hit India on July 30 and 31, 2012, affecting more than 600 million residents in 20 states of eastern, northern, and northeastern India, including New Delhi. The 2012 blackout was not only the severest in the history of India, but also of the world. Although electricity supply was soon restored thanks to the effort of India’s power administrator and enterprises, there is still the possibility of such blackouts.
India has a population close to that of China. To have per capita power consumption catching up with that of China, there will be huge room for India’s power sector to grow. Despite the fact that 80 percent of India’s population has access to electricity, blackouts often occurred. Statistics show that at peak time, India has an electricity shortage of about 20 million kWh. The situation will get worse along with the development of industries which need high energy consumption. The World Bank has forecast that India’s GDP would maintain an annual growth above 7 percent between 2015 and 2020. To satisfy the needs of its economic growth, India’s power industry needs to annually increase by at least 10 percent. However, the Business Monitor International (BMI) forecasts that the country’s power sector can only achieve an annual growth of six percent in the medium and long run. According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2014- 2015 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), India ranks 103th among 144 economies in power supply.
As neighboring countries, China and India are born to be partners. In June 2014, Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co., Ltd. (TBEA), a leading Chinese power transformer manufacturer and exporter, unveiled an industrial park in India, aiming at serving India’s national grid. Moreover, other Chinese power equipment enterprises including Henan Pinggao Electric Co., Ltd. and Dongfang Electronics Co., Ltd. entered India, to help the country upgrade its power industry.
According to reports by some Indian media organizations, Indian authorities welcome the entry of Chinese power equipment companies in the Indian market to help realization of thermal power generation targets of the 12th Five-year Plan. As India’s power market is becoming more and more open, there will be bright prospects for China-India cooperation in the power sector.