A week ago, Shu Yinbiao, Chairman of State Grid Corporation of China, proposed the "Energy Cooperation Projects under the Belt and Road Initiative" at the World Economic Forum's Energy Management Committee annual meeting. The initiative aims to draw on China's experience, pool the efforts of all countries, and address energy poverty in the regions along the routes in a green manner.
It is reported that in recent years, State Grid has increased investment and construction in countries along the Belt and Road. In 2017, it achieved a profit of 91 billion yuan, an increase of 4.4 billion yuan year-on-year. The company has invested in and operated key energy networks in 7 countries and regions, including the Philippines, Brazil, Portugal, Australia, Italy, and Greece, with overseas investment equivalent to approximately 130 billion yuan. Projects worth over 260 billion yuan are being carried out successively. All projects are operating steadily and profitably, not only alleviating local power shortages but also contributing China's strength to the global energy transition.
In 2017, State Grid acquired a 54.64% stake in CPFL, Brazil's largest power distribution and renewable energy company, achieving full coverage of power transmission, distribution, renewable energy, and electricity sales in the Brazilian market. It also completed the transfer of a 24% stake in Greece's national grid operator, further expanding its influence in the European energy sector and promoting the export of advanced technology, equipment, and production capacity.
The first phase of the Belo Monte ultra-high-voltage direct current transmission project in Brazil's Amazon Plain, independently invested by State Grid in the Americas, was completed two months ahead of schedule and put into operation at the end of 2017. The second phase is currently under construction. This project is the "debut" of ultra-high-voltage technology "going global," marking the successful global application of China's independently developed transmission technology and demonstrating Chinese wisdom and Chinese speed.
This "electricity highway" running north-south through Brazil transmits clean energy from northern Brazil to the load center in the southeast, with a transmission distance of 2,076 kilometers and a capacity of 4 million kilowatts, capable of meeting the annual electricity demand of 22 million people in Brazil.
As the first large-scale project in Pakistan's power transmission sector open to foreign investment, the Matiari-Lahore direct current transmission project, invested, constructed, and operated by State Grid, has also fully started construction and will be completed and put into operation in 2019. It will be of great significance in solving power shortages in central and northern Pakistan.
According to statistics, projects undertaken by State Grid in countries along the Belt and Road, such as Ethiopia, Poland, Myanmar, and Laos, have driven China's electrical equipment exports to 83 countries and regions, with total export contract value exceeding 40 billion US dollars.
"There are still 1 billion people without electricity in South Asia and Africa, power facilities in Central and Eastern Europe urgently need upgrading, and there is an urgent need for energy transition in West Asia. All these face huge investment demands," said Shu Yinbiao. "We pursue mutual benefit and win-win results and will promote the global energy transition." State Grid has built 10 cross-border transmission lines and will steadily advance grid interconnection with neighboring countries, actively participate in the construction of grid infrastructure networks and cross-border and intercontinental interconnection projects in Belt and Road countries, and actively engage in energy and power cooperation in economic corridors such as the New Eurasian Land Bridge.