63 billion kWh traded between Yunnan, Mekong countries

“More than 63 billion kWh of power has been traded across the borders between Yunnan and countries in the Mekong river basin as of October this year, and clean energy accounted for more than 90%,” said Cheng Jun, deputy general manager of the Yunnan International Company, China Southern Power Grid.

Over the years, the Yunnan firm has strengthened cooperation in power supply with the Mekong countries, in a bid to build a regional power-cooperation platform that is safe, reliable, green and efficient.

“Power grid construction cost lower but can realize mutual benefit faster,” added Cheng. At present, a regional power grid with 110 kV power transmission lines has taken shape in southwest China’s Yunnan and Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos.

The China-Laos power grid linked up Yunnan and northern Laos through the 500kV AC, trading 800,000 kilowatts soon and 2 million in the long term.

102 foreign students from Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia were subsidized by the company and have studied power-supply in Kunming in recent years.

Inviting Mekong officials to China for technological investigations, the company has also trained around 300 power-supply professionals for the Mekong countries.Reporting by Li Zha, Wang Huan (Yunnan Daily); Trans-editing by Yang Xuan