One after another "electric power sky roads" cross the snowy plateau, one "power island" after another is connected to the national grid, dim butter lamps have been replaced by bright electric lights, batches of key aid projects have successively borne fruit, and one remote county and township after another has shed its backward appearance.
　　Over the thirty years of paired assistance to Tibet, the State Grid Corporation of China has resolutely implemented the Party's strategy for governing Tibet in the new era. Batch after batch of aid-Tibet cadres and generation after generation of cadres and employees have worked hard and dedicated themselves, driving tremendous achievements in the development of Tibet's electric power industry and giving wings of takeoff to the region's economic and social development.
　　By the end of 2023, Tibet's power grid had 36,000 kilometers of transmission lines of 35 kV and above. Electricity load had set new historical records for 13 consecutive years, and total electricity consumption had maintained double-digit growth for many consecutive years. The value and role of electric power aid to Tibet in serving Tibet's economic and social development have been fully demonstrated, and all work has been fully affirmed by the people of all ethnic groups across the region.
　　Electricity "Beautifies" the Plateau
　　Helping Tibet Achieve Leapfrog Economic and Social Development
　　In 1994, with the implementation of the central government's paired assistance to Tibet, a number of key power sources in the region, such as the Yamdrok Lake Hydropower Station and the Jinhe Hydropower Station, were completed and put into operation. In 1997, the Lhasa power grid was interconnected with the Shannan power grid, and Tibet's central grid began to take shape. Subsequently, the Shigatse and Nagqu power grids were integrated into the central Tibet grid, forming a power grid pattern of "one large and three small" grids in central Tibet, Nyingchi, Qamdo, and Ngari. During this period, the construction of the "capillaries" of Tibet's rural and distribution grids also developed rapidly, with distribution network renovation and the first, second, and third phases of rural grid construction projects implemented successively.
　　Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, hundreds of thousands of power construction workers have braved severe cold, wind and snow, and oxygen deficiency to actively devote themselves to Tibet's electric power development and construction. They built four "electric power sky roads"—the Qinghai-Tibet, Sichuan-Tibet, central Tibet, and Ngari interconnections—creating a new miracle in the history of human power grid construction. The region's grid voltage levels also successively jumped from 110 kV and 220 kV to ±400 kV and 500 kV, leaping into a new era of an ultra-high-voltage large grid with coordinated development of grids at all levels. This completely ended the history of Tibet's power grid operating in isolation, effectively met the electricity demand for Tibet's high-quality economic and social development, realized the long-cherished ambition of generations of power workers to build a "unified grid for the whole region," promoted the interconnected operation of Tibet's power grid with the motherland's large grid, and opened a new era of Tibet electricity transmitted out of the region and green electricity flowing out of the plateau.
　　The construction of the large grid has provided a strong electric power artery for Tibet's economic and social development, while also laying a solid foundation for accelerating extension and coverage to more remote and difficult areas. Since 2011, a series of people-benefiting and virtuous-governance projects have been completed, including power construction and renovation in areas of Tibet without electricity, the "two-year tough battle for a new round of rural grid renovation and upgrading," and "power grid construction in deeply impoverished areas of Tibet's 'three regions and three prefectures.'" These have laid a solid foundation for comprehensively solving the electricity problem in Tibet's farming and pastoral areas. By the end of 2023, Tibet's main power grid had covered all 74 counties (cities and districts) and major townships across the region, enabling people of all ethnic groups across the region to move from "having access to electricity" to "using electricity well."
　　Enriching the People and Revitalizing Tibet
　　Shouldering the Mission and Responsibility of a Responsible Central SOE
　　Over the thirty years of paired assistance to Tibet, the State Grid Corporation of China has resolutely shouldered the mission and responsibility of a responsible central SOE, treating aid-Tibet work as an important political task in serving the overall work of the Party and the state. It has fully leveraged its group advantages, formulated and issued a series of aid-Tibet measures, and continuously expanded the depth and breadth of aid-Tibet work in areas such as funding, talent, management, projects, and employment, launching a comprehensive "combination punch" of all-round aid to Tibet.
　　By the end of 2023, the State Grid Corporation of China had completed investment of more than 80 billion yuan in Tibet and established a talent aid-Tibet mechanism of "one province helping one city, one city helping one county, regular plus special, long-term plus short-term." It has successively selected and dispatched 2,700 outstanding personnel to Tibet, completing a series of tough tasks such as key project construction of Tibet's power grid and major corporate reform and development, improving the level of high-quality power services, and solidly promoting the high-quality development of Tibet's power grid and the company.
　　Since 2002, the State Grid Corporation of China has provided paired assistance to Coqên County in Ngari, dispatching 10 batches of 22 outstanding cadres to Tibet and investing a cumulative total of 486 million yuan in aid funds. It has implemented projects benefiting the people, basic safeguards, environmental restoration, and maintaining stability, bringing Coqên County's economic and social development into an "acceleration period." The county was lifted out of poverty in 2019, contributing State Grid strength to consolidating and expanding Tibet's poverty alleviation achievements and boosting rural revitalization.
　　The State Grid Corporation of China has continued to increase employment aid to Tibet. Since 2007, it has recruited more than 8,100 graduates in Tibet cumulatively, of whom more than 60 percent are Tibetan graduates. Its total recruitment of college graduates and the number of Tibetan-origin recruits have ranked first among central SOEs stationed in Tibet for many consecutive years. Through labor dispatch and business outsourcing, it flexibly provides auxiliary and temporary jobs, offering more than 2,000 jobs each year.
　　From power grid construction to rural revitalization, from power supply guarantees to emergency rescue, batch after batch of aid-Tibet cadres have come to Tibet from all over the country and taken root on the snowy plateau. Together with the vast number of cadres and employees of Tibet's power grid, they keep their mission firmly in mind and live up to their trust, making positive contributions through loyalty and responsibility to the high-quality economic and social development of Tibet in the new era.
　　Green Development
　　Opening a New Chapter in Energy Transition
　　In July 2021, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Tibet, he stressed the need to accelerate the construction of a national clean energy base, pointing out the direction for the development of Tibet's clean energy industry.
　　Under the cordial care of the Party Central Committee and with the support of policies such as paired assistance to Tibet, Tibet's power grid has been continuously upgraded and its coverage extended, helping Tibet's clean energy enter the "fast lane" of high-quality development. In particular, since Tibet's power grid first realized "Tibet electricity transmitted out of the region" in 2015, Tibet's clean energy has left the plateau with the help of "west-to-east power transmission," integrating into the national tide of clean energy development and contributing Tibet's strength to helping achieve the national "dual carbon" goals. By the end of 2023, cumulative clean energy transmission out of the region had exceeded 13.9 billion kWh, reducing carbon dioxide emissions on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by 10.71 million tons and boosting Tibet's economic income by 2.5 billion yuan.
　　To safeguard Tibet's energy security and advance the two main lines of green transition, the autonomous region has clearly proposed accelerating the construction of a national clean energy base and creating a new development pattern of "one base, two demonstrations"—a new-type power system demonstration zone and a clean renewable energy utilization demonstration zone. The State Grid Corporation of China has continued to deepen the implementation of various measures for electric power aid to Tibet, formulated a construction plan for a Tibet new-type power system demonstration zone, vigorously promoted the pilot application of new technologies, new equipment, and new mechanisms in Tibet, fully guaranteed Tibet's own electricity demand for development, and met the development and transmission needs of large-scale clean energy bases. State Grid Tibet Electric Power is accelerating the construction of a new-type power system, putting into operation ahead of schedule the Mangkang-Lancang River-Bomi 500 kV transmission line project, starting construction on key projects such as the Lhasa 500 kV power transmission and transformation project and the Qinghai-Tibet DC Phase II expansion project, and ensuring the on-schedule commissioning of transmission projects for Lakang and Xianghe hydropower and the Cuomei Zhegu wind power. At the same time, it is solidly carrying out research on supporting scientific research topics for the new-type power system, leading one national key R&D project and three provincial-level research projects. It is conducting in-depth research on key technologies in fields such as Tibet microgrids, grid-forming energy storage, and gravity energy storage. Tibet microgrid construction has been approved as one of the first batch of modern smart distribution network comprehensive demonstrations in the State Grid Corporation system, producing multiple research results such as "Recommendations for the High-Quality Development of New Energy in Tibet" and "Prospects and Development Recommendations for the Application of Concentrated Solar Power Technology in Tibet."
　　In the new era and on a new journey, State Grid Tibet Electric Power will earnestly study and understand the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, implement the work arrangements of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 10th Autonomous Region Party Committee, transform "blood transfusion" into "blood production," accelerate the construction of the Tibet new-type power system demonstration zone, serve Tibet's new development pattern of "one base, two demonstrations," and contribute new and greater strength to the high-quality economic and social development of Tibet in the new era.