China's first submarine power cable will be laid through the
Qiongzhou Straits this year, connecting the provincial grids of
Guangdong and the southernmost Hainan Island, a China Southern
Power Grid (CSG) spokesman said.
"Initial construction started early last year, but the
substantial part of the project will be constructed this year at a
cost of 2.1 billion yuan (US$280 million)," the spokesman said.
A 34.7 kilometer benthal cable and a 144 km trolley wire will be
constructed to link the Gangcheng transformer substation in
Guangdong's Zhanjiang City and the Fushan transformer substation in
Hainan's Chengmai County with a 500 kilovolts alternating current
grid.
With a transmission capacity of 600,000 kilowatts, the new grid
will ensure a safer and more stable power supply for Hainan, thus
boosting the island's economic development, the spokesman said.
When completed in the first half of 2009, the submarine power
cable is expected to be the longest of its kind in the world.
In the past three years, CSG has invested 4 billion yuan in the
Hainan power grid to upgrade facilities. The maximum power load has
increased 40 percent annually since 2004 when Hainan power grid
joined CSG.
The state-owned China Southern Power Grid covers the southern
provinces of Guangdong, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hainan and Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region, servicing about 230 million people.
(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2008)
