Power-intensive central enterprises "into Tibet"

Less than two weeks after the National Energy Commission meeting was convened, the top four giants of China’s five largest power generation groups have stated that they will invest in hydropower projects in Tibet.

According to public information, the leaders of China Power Investment Group, Huadian Group, Guodian Group and Datang Group stated on April 30th and May 4th respectively that the company will invest in energy projects including hydropower in Tibet.

"This is also a strategy for the development of enterprises." An expert from the China Electric Power Enterprise Association told reporters.

Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council said at a recent meeting of the National Energy Commission that China is currently preparing to start a number of major projects. On April 18, Li Keqiang presided over the first meeting of the new National Energy Commission to study and discuss related strategic issues and major projects in energy development.

Prior to this, the National Energy Administration released a message on the official website on December 4, 2013 that the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" power-assisted-Tibet project had completed an investment of 2.5 billion yuan, of which power companies had aided 700 million yuan.

According to a report obtained by the reporter from the National Energy Administration, as the high-energy-carrying industries in the eastern region have accelerated their shift to the west, the demand for electricity in the western region has been accelerating, together with other reasons, the scale and continuation of the power transmission from the west to the east. Sex will be affected. The scope of power transmission will gradually expand from Guangdong to Guangxi, Hainan and Hong Kong and Macau.

Based on this, the above-mentioned plan states that the transmission power supply is expected to expand to the southeast region of Tibet and the countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion in order to obtain more electricity to strengthen the continuity of the “West-East Power Transmission”. The Greater Mekong Subregion includes China and a number of Southeast Asian countries.

The government of the Tibet Autonomous Region has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Power Investment Group. At the same time, China Power Investment Group also established the CLP Investment Tibet Branch in 2013.

At the symposium held on April 30 this year, Luosang Jiangcun, deputy secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Party Committee and chairman of the Autonomous Region, said that the autonomous region will actively promote the construction of the “West-to-East Electricity Transmission” for the energy base, and accelerate the Yajiang and the “Three Rivers” in the Southeast of Tibet. The exploitation of hydropower resources in the river basin promotes the “transmission of Tibet Electric Power”, and hopes that the Central Electric Power Enterprise including the China Power Investment Group will participate in the development of Tibet’s development.

Lu Qizhou, general manager of China Power Investment Group, said that CPI Investment Group will increase investment in Tibet and further increase investment in the development of hydropower and geothermal resources. The company plans to invest 3.2 billion to construct photovoltaic and solar thermal power stations in Tibet.

On the same day, Li Qingkui, chairman of the Huadian Group, met with the standing member of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Party Committee and standing vice chairman Ding Yeh. He said that hydropower development in Tibet has great potential, and Huadian Group will “proactively do a good job in aiding Tibet and hydropower development.”

Also on April 30, Chen Ding, Chairman of Datang Group, met with Ding Yeh-Chun. Both parties stated that they jointly promote the development and utilization of hydropower resources in Tibet.

On the following May 4, Guobao Group Chairman Qiao Baoping and Ding Yee now exchanged views on the development of the power industry in Tibet.

How much hydropower resources in Tibet can be developed? Lu Youxuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and former vice minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, said in an exclusive interview with this reporter that hydropower resources in Tibet are mainly concentrated on the southward reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River. With a natural drop of more than 2,000 meters, the hydropower resources here are estimated to reach 35 million kilowatts, which is equivalent to two Three Gorges Projects.

However, Lu Youyi said that the geological structure in Tibet is extremely complex. It is still a problem how to send electricity out of these places. “In addition, the electricity demand in the Tibet region itself is not large, and currently building several million-kilowatt power plants can meet the requirements.” He said, “The development of hydropower in Tibet should be demonstrated through scientific feasibility and necessity. Make accurate decisions."

It is worth noting that over the years, China has had many disputes over hydropower development. “So we need to promote orderly development.” Lu Youyi said, “In terms of hydropower development, the major problem that we are now facing is the ecological problem. In fact, any project that is done does not change the original environment. The problem is that Looking at this change is in the end beneficial or unfavorable."

Lu Youyi said that China’s hydropower is now developing very rapidly. The deep development of China’s hydropower stations encounters complex geological structures and high-intensity seismic regions, as well as ecological, environmental, and immigration difficulties, and must be developed in an orderly manner.

"What projects should be done and what projects should not be done are decided by the state and are government actions." Lu Youyi told the newspaper, "Now, the system in this area is confusing, and some projects have invested nearly 10 billion yuan to complete the project." A lot of preparation work, but it has not yet been approved by the state."

Lu Youyi believes that in the development of hydropower, we must pay attention to balancing the interests of migrants who are relocated because of hydropower.

In the future, part of Tibet’s hydropower will be used for “transmitting electricity from the west to the east”. However, in the western region, especially in Yunnan last year, there was a large amount of abandoned water due to the low price of hydroelectricity on-grid electricity.

An informed source from the National Energy Administration stated to this reporter that in 2013, local water discarded in Yunnan was at least as high as 10 billion kWh. "Because the price of electricity for water and electricity is too low," he said. "This has caused Yunnan to suffer a major loss."

The reporter learned from many interviews that in the past year, local governments in Yunnan and China Southern Power Grid launched a fierce game of hydropower on-grid tariffs.