CHINA'S SICHUAN PROVINCE FOCUSES ON HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT

Tuesday December 13, 2005, 8:33 pm

CHENGDU, Dec 13 Asia Pulse - Sichuan Province in southwest China will usher in a peak period for developing hydropower development in the coming five years according to the provincial 11th five-year program (2006-2010).

According to the program, the province will push forward the construction of Pubugou Hydropower Station with a total investment of 20 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion), the first- and second-level hydropower stations at Jinbing with a total generating capacity of 8.4 million kilowatts and a total investment of some 50 billion yuan, and large hydropower stations at Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba with a combined generating capacity of 18.6 million kilowatts and an investment of 100 billion yuan.

Sichuan Province ranks first in the country in terms of water energy resources. In line with the resources-saving and environment-friendly modes of development put forward by the central government, the province will give priority to the building of sustainable energy safety system with stress on hydropower and natural gas.

It will concentrate its efforts to speed up the construction of the above-mentioned large and medium-sized hydropower stations.

The province will also explore and develop coal resources in the southern part of the province, encouraging the development of biomass energy, solar energy and other renewable energies.

The program outlines that the province will accelerate the construction of the provincial backbone power grid and the restructuring of local power grids, and upgrade its research, development and manufacturing capacities for complete sets of large power generation equipment and heavy-duty machinery.