Investment boost for power grid construction

The State Grid Corp of China announced it planned to increase investment in power grid construction by nearly 20 percent, a move that signals more opportunities for grid equipment enterprises.

The fixed asset investment of SGCC, the world's largest State-owned utility company, is expected to rise 11.92 percent year-on-year to 403.5 billion yuan ($60.10 billion) in 2014. Of this, 381.5 billion yuan will be injected into constructing electricity power grids, nearly 20 percent higher than last year's 318.2 billion yuan.

"The planned investment is far beyond market expectations and will boost power grid equipment enterprises this year," Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, said.

He said that although the number of projects which will get final approval will be less than it planned, it is likely that the extra-high voltage projects will get approval thanks to the government's determination to cut air pollution and readjust its energy structure.

The State-owned power distributor slowed the construction and bidding projects for building power grids in the second half of last year as a result of weak demand and slower economic growth.