China's biggest power grid builder held a nationwide trial-run Friday to brace for power emergencies this summer.

This is the first-ever drilling since the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) finished a national power-grid-building project earlier this year.

SGCC sources said all major power plants and transformer substations have been involved in the trial, which was thoroughly designed to target all possible problems.

Taking emergency actions and facilitating collaboration among different departments have been set as the drill's major objectives, the corporation said.

According to statistics from the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC), in the first five months of this year, China has seen a power consumption of 932.5 billion KWH 13.61 percent more from the same period of 2004. Meanwhile, the total power consumption of China in 2005 is estimated at about 2,422 billion KWH 12 percent more than last year.

SERC chairman Chai Songyue warned Thursday that China faces a serious electric power production safety challenge because a number of electrical generation and transmission equipment has been running on excess.

SERC required all electric grid and power generation companies to establish their own emergency headquarters to cope with possible emergencies occurring in their own enterprises.

(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2005)