The development of power system and power system technology in China

Over the past 5 to 10 years, electric power and power systems in China have been developing rapidly. The total installed generation capacity by the end of 1996 reached 236.5GW with an annual production of 1,080 TWh which is ranked the second in the world. There are 6 inter-provincial power networks and 5 independent provincial networks in operation in the mainland of the country. The Three Gorges hydropower project is now entering a important phase of the construction and a large amount of preparation work has been completed for the construction of the Three Gorges power transmission system. The total 26 sets of generators of the Three Gorges power plant will be completely installed before the year 2010. By the year 2020, the interconnection of the power networks of the whole country will be formed based on the interconnections among the Three Gorges power system and other inter-provincial power networks. With the rapid growth of the power systems, new technologies for HVAC/DC power transmission, power system operation and control have been and will be developed and adopted