Published : 08/11/2024

On November 8, 2000, the expansion projects of Hongjiadu Hydropower Station, Yinzidu Hydropower Station, and Wujiangdu Hydropower Station in Guizhou Province commenced simultaneously, marking the comprehensive launch of China's west-to-east power transmission programme (西電東送).

The west-to-east power transmission programme mainly involves transmitting power resources from western provinces such as Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Inner Mongolia to power-deficient areas like Guangdong Province, Beijing, Tianjin, and Tangshan in Hebei Province.

China is a vast country with extremely uneven distribution of energy resources.

69% of its coal resources are concentrated in the "Three West" regions (Shanxi Province, Shaanxi Province, and western Inner Mongolia), Yunnan Province, and Guizhou Province, while 77% of hydropower resources are located in the southwest and northwest regions.

The economically developed eastern coastal areas, however, are very deficient in energy resources, with relatively concentrated power demand.

The west-to-east power transmission programme comprises three major routes: the southern route refers to developing hydropower in the southwest region and thermal power in Yunnan and Guizhou Province, then transmitting the power to Guangdong Province.

The central route is led by transmitting power from the Three Gorges Dam, extending the power network westward to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, enabling Sichuan Province, Chongqing, and central China to jointly transmit power to eastern China and Guangdong.

The northern route refers to gradually realising power transmission from the upper reaches of the Yellow River and thermal power from the "Three West" regions to North China and Shandong Province, based on transmitting power from northern Shanxi and western Inner Mongolia to the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan region.