SHANGHAI: This city plans to spend 20 billion yuan (US$2.57 billion) to expand and upgrade its power grid this year to meet the growing demand from both households and businesses.

The city has been spending about 20 billion yuan per year to expand and upgrade its power grid in recent years. Still, some areas remain unconnected to the grid.

This year's spending will cover the construction of a transmission system, a 500-kilovolt southern grid, a 500-kilovolt transformer substation near the World Expo site and other auxiliary urban projects.

Twenty-five power transmission and transformer projects of at least 30 kilovolts are scheduled to be finished before the coming summer. They are projected to involve 825 kilometers of new cables, according to a recent statement by the Shanghai Electric Power Co, the city's major power supplier.

Power loads are expected to surpass 20 megawatts this summer for the first time. And peak loads could reach 21 to 21.5 megawatts, the company predicted.

The peak power load was 19.54 megawatts during the same period of last year.

The city will have to expand its grid if it is to avoid massive blackouts.

"The power supply won't be a major problem, but there could be bottlenecks in power transmission and distribution in some places," the company said.

Demand has been growing fast, especially since many households have installed air-conditioners.

Since 2002, Shanghai has suffered from power shortages, prompting city authorities to prioritize power supply to households while rationing supply to businesses on peak summer days.

Companies have had to shift their production schedules to night hours or weekends to reduce usage during peak daytime hours.

(China Daily 02/02/2007 page4)