中國力推電網跨境互聯計劃 China looks to export surplus energy to Germany

China’s proposed investments in long-distance, ultra-high voltage (UHV) power transmission lines will pave the way for power exports as far as Germany, the head of the country’s national power grid said on Tuesday as he launched an initiative for cross-border power connections.

中國國家電網負責人週二在啓動跨境電力連接計劃時稱，中國在遠程、超高壓電力輸送線方面的投資計劃將爲中國電力出口到遠至德國的地區鋪平道路。

Exporting power to central Asia and beyond falls into China’s “one belt, one road” ambitions to export industrial overcapacity and engineering expertise as it faces slowing growth at home. The plan would allow enormous hydropower dams, coal-fired power plants and wind farms in frontier regions such as Xinjiang to sell into higher-priced markets overseas. The ‘belt’ refers to the land route from Asia to Europe, while the ‘road’, curiously, refers to the sea route via the Indian Ocean.

向中亞、甚至更遠的地區出口電力，與中國“一帶一路”的抱負（在面臨國內增長放緩的情況下，對外出口工業過剩產能和工程技術）一致。該計劃將允許中國在新疆等邊疆地區的巨大水電站大壩、燃煤電廠和風力發電場向海外高價市場出售電力。“一帶”是指從亞洲通往歐洲的陸上路線，而“一路”怪異地指的是途徑印度洋的海上路線。

Talk of exporting power is a reversal for China, which as recently as 2004 suffered rolling blackouts across its manufacturing heartland. But huge investments in power in the decade since, and the construction of a number of dams, nuclear reactors and coal-fired plants due to begin operating in the next 10 years, means the country faces a growing surplus.

有關出口電力的討論對中國來說可謂局面大逆轉，直到2004年中國的製造業腹地還遭遇輪流停電的境況。但是，10年來中國在電力上的巨大投資、以及預計將在未來10年投入運行的很多大壩、核反應堆以及燃煤電廠的建設，意味着中國面臨電力日益過剩的情況。

Liu Zhenya, chairman of State Grid, told reporters that wind and thermal power produced in Xinjiang could reach Germany at half the current cost of electricity there. “There are so many resources, but no market. We need to find it externally.”

國家電網公司(State Grid)董事長劉振亞向記者表示，新疆能夠以德國目前電力成本的一半向該國輸送風力和熱力所生產的電力。“那裏有太多資源，但是沒有市場。我們需要向外尋找市場。”

The distance from Kashgar, an oasis city in Xinjiang near China’s central Asian frontier, to Berlin is only about 400 miles farther as the crow flies than the distance from Kashgar to Shanghai, China’s financial centre.

從中國與中亞的邊境附近的新疆綠洲城市喀什到柏林的直線距離，只比從喀什到中國金融中心上海的距離多400英里。

Other potential markets include Pakistan, India and Myanmar, Mr Liu said. Less than five years ago, Myanmar cancelled a dam that was designed to export power to China. Now, with an excess of dams in China’s south-west, it is the Chinese-produced power that is seeking an outlet.

劉振亞稱，其他潛在市場包括巴基斯坦、印度和緬甸。不到5年前，緬甸取消了一項原用於向中國輸送電力的大壩建設計劃。如今，中國西南部大壩過多，中國成了尋求電力出口的一方。

Mr Liu has forged his career on his support for UHV transmission, which has enabled China to build huge energy projects far from its power-demand centres on the eastern and southern coasts. That has made him a controversial figure among environmentalists opposed to large-scale coal mining and mega-dams. Some power industry executives believe State Grid’s emphasis on UHV has sidelined smaller, more efficient projects nearer to population centres.

劉振亞全力支持超高壓輸電，這種技術使中國可以建設與東部和南部沿海地區的電力需求中心相距遙遠的大型能源項目。這使得劉振亞在反對大型煤炭開採及建設大壩的環保人士眼中成爲了一個有爭議的人物。一些電力行業高管認爲，國家電網對超高壓的注重，使一些距離人口中心較近的較小但效率更高的項目成爲犧牲品。

Also on Tuesday, State Grid signed an MOU with Korea’s power utility and SoftBank of Japan to promote an interconnected grid in north-east Asia.

同樣是在週二，國家電網與韓國電力公司和日本軟銀(SoftBank)簽署了推動東北亞互聯電網發展的合作備忘錄。