China on right track
Frost & Sullivan foresees smart grid playing a significant role in the development of China’s national economy in the future.
It has highlighted that State Grid Corp of China (SGCC), China’s largest power grid builder, met with the Minister of Energy of the United States recently.
SGCC is constructing Ultra high and extra high voltage direct current (+/-800KV, +/-500KV) and alternating current transmission system (1000kV, 500kV, 220kV), and coordinating the development of a smart grid based on information technology and automation technology.
Known as the largest utility in the world, the SGCC serves 26 provinces and 1.08 billion people throughout China.
According to Frost & Sullivan China, smart grid in China focuses more on the transmission side than the distribution side at present.
Based on the fact that coal is the main energy source in China and coal mines are far away from the main load centres, it is the right choice that the power grid development be focused on the transmission network.
The company also highlighted that China has been constructing a unified national power grid network. The project includes what is known as the “West-East Electricity Transfer Project”, which includes three major west-east transmission corridors construction. The transmission capacity of each corridor will be 20 GW by 2020. Through these transmission grids, electricity distributors in China will bond regional power grids in different areas of the country, and improve cross-region electricity transmission ability. This will balance the power generation disparities in different regions.
