Over 50 Billion kWh of Electricity Sent to Macao

A maintenance staff member at the Guangdong Zhuhai Power Supply Bureau of China Southern Power Grid checks power supply facilities connected to the Macao SAR in Hengqin Power Tunnel, under a special assurance program initiated in November 2019 in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to China. [photo/sasac.gov.cn]

In November, Zhuhai Power Supply Bureau enhanced inspections on Mainland-Macao power supply lines in Hengqin New District under a "manual and automatic" check model. [photo/sasac.gov.cn]

On Jun 30, 2019, the 220kv Diequan Substation was put into use; the third substation of this level in the district. It has significantly enhanced reliability of power supply to Macao SAR. [photo/sasac.gov.cn]

Macao and Zhuhai at the annual Macao International Fireworks Display Contest [photo/sasac.gov.cn]

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the return of Macao to China, and also the 35th anniversary of China Southern Power Grid's power support to the Macao SAR. According to available data, as of Dec 1, 2019, the company achieved a milestone in supplying 50.01 billion kWh of electricity to Macao.

As well as promoting construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, China Southern Power Grid (CSG) has been firmly taking concrete measures to implement the national development strategy, staying true to its original aspirations, keeping in mind its missions, and contributing to the long-term prosperity and sustained development of Macao by ensuring its high-quality and reliable power supply.

An energy supply system created for the Greater Bay Area under a new pattern of Guangdong –Macao power cooperation

Guangdong Province started to supply Macao with power in July 1984, initially with a 110 kV AB line by Zhuhai Grid, capable of an annual supply of 47 million kWh. Its supply had exceeded 195 million by 1999, the year Macao returned to China. Now, the province has expanded the supply to senary-circuit 220 kV lines and quadruple-circuit 110 kV lines. In 2018, about 4.9 billion kWh were supplied to Macao, an annual capacity that is 24 times that of 1999.

As early as 2011, China Southern Power Grid initiated the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Electric Company Summit. This platform serves as a high-level communication mechanism for regional electricity companies to enhance coordination between grids.

Nowadays, with the full implementation of the Greater Bay Area strategy, higher requirements are being placed on supply reliability. In response, the company has come up with 26 priorities to facilitate regional development. It is planned that in the coming five-year period, a total of 170 billion yuan will be invested in grid systems on the Pearl River Delta in order to create an energy supply system fit for a world-leading bay area with enhanced supply reliability.

Meng Zhenpin, chairman of China Southern Power Grid, has said that in order to meet requirements on constructing a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy supply system under the Development Plan Outline of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the company proposes to optimize regional energy institutions and layout, enhance cooperation on smart grid and smart energy development, and create a new system of comprehensive collaboration on power affairs in the region.

Zhuhai ensures Macao's power supply with leading supply reliability

According to the 2018 report on Power Supply Reliability Index among National Prefecture-level Administrative Regions, which was released by the National Energy Administration on July 2, 2019, Zhuhai has the nation's highest power supply reliability at 99.99 percent. Entrusted with substantive responsibility for ensuring power supply in Zhuhai and Macao, Guangdong Zhuhai Power Supply Bureau of China Southern Power Grid has further committed itself to the construction of a smart grid and a 'bottom-line' grid for better supply assurance.  

Hengqin Island of Zhuhai, as a close neighbor city of Macao, sits at the front-end of power support to the city. It has invested in a 22 km power tunnel equipped with a smart robot inspection system, run under a model of 'automatic and manual inspection' which is pioneering in China. Qinyun Substation is the first 3C green substation of the 220 kV class domestically. In addition to Hengqin New District, it supports the power supply network to Macao. Thanks to technical innovations such as world-leading smart controls, this substation has significantly lowered the failure rate.

The bottom-line grid project aims to apply higher standards to key power users, such as hospitals, water works, and elevators. This approach is set to improve power supply safety and ensure a fast recovery capacity, while minimizing the implications of natural disasters on society, the economy, and people's lives. As of now, this project is 82.1 percent complete (i.e. 23 out of 28 tasks). Upon full completion, the reliability of the power supply during extreme weather conditions will be much higher.

"New rules" on power supply and use to fuel diversified development of industries in Macao

It is expected that this year, power use will grow by 30 percent and exceed 700 billion kWh higher than previous estimates. The Mainland-Macao co-operated Chinese Medicine Tech Park, located 10 kilometers from the Hengqin Power Supply Bureau, is the first project implemented under the Guangdong-Macao Cooperation Program. It has a reputation as Chinese medicine's "window to the world".

In June 2019, the bureau built a switching station for the Tech Park which has reduced costs by 3.27 million yuan, and also reduced project completion time by 45 days. The following month, another two switching boxes were installed for the park to facilitate implementation of five projects. It took just 35 days end-to-end to enable the power supply, and saved users connection costs of 2.12 million yuan.

China Southern Power Grid has closely implemented President Xi Jinping's instructions that "the aspiration of building Hengqin New District is to create conditions for the diversified development of Macao", as well as the development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It took the lead domestically in piloting the "rules for the supply of electricity in Hengqin FTA". Since the implementation on May 1, 2018, it has reduced power-use request handling-time by 28.3 percent, and saved users' installation costs of about 260 million yuan.

In June 2019, Qinghai Power Supply Bureau was officially upgraded to Zhuhai Hengqin Power Supply Bureau. It is now dedicated to offering a one-stop user experience to Macao-based companies in Hengqin.

(Executive editor: Zhang Tianyuan)