Pollution would be cut by high-voltage grid, says energy firm boss
Official says the technology will also reduce electricity prices, but analysts have questioned the system's reliability and security
State Grid Corporation of China should be allowed to connect regional power grids with ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission lines as it would help lower power prices nationwide and reduce smog caused by coal-burning in coastal regions, its chief says.
The power distribution firm's chairman, Liu Zhenya, told a panel discussion on the sidelines of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference a UHV line linking Xinjiang to Shanghai could result in a kWh price of 10 fen (12 HK cents) to 20 fen, a roughly 25 per cent savings on power sold in Shanghai.
Adding generators' on-grid coal-fired power selling price of 25 fen per kWh in Xinjiang to an estimated transmission cost of 13 fen, the total cost amounted to 38 fen when the power reached Shanghai, he said.
This compares to Shanghai's current on-grid power price of 50 fen to 60 fen per kWh.
"If this is deployed on a big scale, power prices nationwide will come down," he said.
Sending coal-fired and clean energy from solar and wind resource-rich western regions to consumption centres in central and coastal areas would help cut air pollution, which has worsened in recent years and was one of the central government's top policy priorities, he said.