On the brink of an electricity crisis once more, 15 of China's 31
inland provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities suffering
from shortages eagerly await solutions from the government.
Since last year, electricity supplies across China have been
increasingly inconsistent. Of those affected, Guangdong, Guizhou,
Yunnan, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Henan, Shandong, Ningxia,
Qinghai, Sichuan and Chongqing have been the worst affected. There
is talk of an electricity crisis.
In
response, Jia Yinghua, vice director of the Electric Department
under the former State Economic and Trade Commission, has pointed
to three measures that are being taken to guarantee electrical
stability:
First, employing high-power generating units and building
high-capacity power grids should both be integrated with the
restructuring of old power stations immediately to alleviate the
demand problem. The development of the electric unit industry
includes large scale capacity and structural adjustment and quality
enhancement. While China develops high-power generating units and
high-capacity power grids, attention should also be paid to the
technological updating of the old power stations and implementing
innovative systems as an important part of developing the industry.
Combined heat and power generation, comprehensive applications,
replacement and innovation of old generating units would be an
efficient means to tackle electricity supply problems.
Second, in light of current shortages, the first task is to
guarantee supply by rescheduling or slowing down the shutting down
of thermal power stations. Low-power units used to account for a
large percentage of China's electric utility but they are
notoriously unreliable and inefficient, discharging huge
pollutants. China began to shut off 30 GW small thermal generating
units in 1998 as part of an adjustment process. By the end of 2002,
15 GW were shut down across the country.
Third, the problem seems to be that some provinces and cities
continue to be high users of electrical power while others are less
so. Hydropower also seems to have a greater frequency of power
outages. Supervision and analysis should be enhanced to identify
the complete picture of where the outages are happening, to whom
and why. Then the local areas will know how to report and satisfy
the problem. There should be an improvement in demand satisfaction
that will benefit the national economy and social development.
Jia holds that electric power reform is coming into an
implementation phase. The nation has established 11 national group
companies that are taking solid steps toward what they refer to as
a "separation of generation and transmission" and a "separation of
arterial and branch grids." As the market will increase competitive
advantage, there will undoubtedly be a period of transition.
Provincial electrical power companies are also affected by reform.
He maintains that these new difficulties may well restart the
coordination of the demandsupply gap.
"In an uncertain climate of rapid economic development, and with
the conditions that produce power outages, we are being forced to
research how the administrative management and supervision of the
electricity supply industry may correct these new conditions for
us," said Jia Yinghua.
(China.org.cn by Alex Xu, March 16, 2003)