The State Grid, China’s leading power grid operator said Wednesday that it had completed the reconstruction of power facilities in three of China’s western provinces worst hit by an earthquake three years ago.
The company invested 14.7 billion yuan (2.26 billion U.S. dollars) to reconstruct power facilities in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces over the past three years, it said.
The devastating quake, centered in Wenchuan County in Sichuan on May 12, 2008, left 87,000 people dead or missing and millions of others without homes.
Reconstruction of power facilities and electric substations in the Sichuan quake zone cost 14 billion yuan, according to the State Grid.
“The power supply capacity, electrical network structure and technical equipment in those regions were all restored to pre-quake levels, some even better than they were previously,” it said.
The company has established an emergency system to ensure communication and power supplies during natural disasters, largely as a result of the damage done by the Wenchuan earthquake, the State Grid said.
The company currently operates 14 back-up power distribution centers capable of supplying up to 320,000 kilowatts (kw) of power, enough to supply a medium-sized city, according to the State Grid.
The company aims to increase its cross-regional power transmission capacity to 250 million kw by 2015 in order to better meet power demands during possible future disasters, it said.
