(June 16, 2009) Through China’s first extra-high voltage power transmission line, the Central China Power Grid (CCPG) has formally started to transmit power to the North China Power Grid.

Residents of the North China region including Beijing have started to use the clean and economic hydro power from the Central China Power Grid for the first time. This indicates that Beijing residents have started to use the hydro power generated by the Three Gorges hydroelectric station.

Since the Central China Power Grid has plentiful hydroelectric resources and the North China Power Grid has abundant thermal power resources, State Grid has officially proposed the mode of mutual power transmission between north and south. During low water season, power will be transmitted “from north to south,” meaning the power will be transmitted from the North China Power Grid to the Central China Power Grid; During high water period or flood season, power will be transmitted “from south to north.”

Read the original story (and listen as an audio file) on People’s Daily Online English-language site

China People’s Daily Online, June 16, 2009