LETTER TO EUGENE LAWSON FROM RICHARD J. KERR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00914R001200050007-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: August 10, 1982
• Content Type: LETTER

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Central Intelligence Agency
10 AUG 1382
Mr. Eugene Lawson
Deputy Assistant Secretary for
East Asia and the Pacific
Department of Commerce
Washington, D.C. 20230
In response to your request of June 1982 for information
about electric power transmission technology in China, I am
forwarding the enclosed material prepared by which
summarizes China's technical capabilities and requirements in
electric power transmission. is also arranging a
special JPRS report which will contain unclassified information on
Chinese plans and priorities in this area.
I you have further questions or comments, please
contact Chief, Science and Technology Division,
Office of Scientific and Weapons Research
Sincerely,
icnar err
Acting Deputy Director-for Intelligence
Enclosure:
As Stated
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Central intelligence Agency
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foreign exchange to pay for the imported technology.
long-distance transmission network. Tnis wit, epee
ment being able to provide the needed
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priority in the allocation of state funds to industry.
In the near term China will continue to seek favorable
Loan terms from the World Bank and developed nations for the
development of 500 kV transmission Lines. According to
officials of the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric
Power, China will seek to purchase high voltage transmission
equipment including transformers, control equipment, materials,
construction machinery, power generating and associated
machinery. We believe that China will continue to diversif?,y
its sources of foreign technology and equipment so as to
avoid being too dependent on one source. They will attempt
to acquire adequate but not necessarily state-of-the-art technology
and try to achieve eventual replacement of foreign participation
with domestic resources. 25X1
By the Zate 1980s to the early 1990s, we expect China
to seek extensive foreign technical assistance in both ultra
high voltage alternate current and high voltage direct
current transmission technology since the planned development
of Large-scale hydroelectric plants will require an extensive
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in China's electric power industry. Based on reports :ro,a
the ower industry will continue to get too
UVashin0on. D C 20505
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
5 August 1982
China: Technical Requirements for Electric Power Transmission
Summary
China's Leaders are aware that modernization of industry
and agriculture depends on a steadily expanding power supply
in all parts of China. The Zack of a weZZ-developed Long-
distance transmission network is the most serious shortcoming
This memorandum was prepared by Office of
Scientific and Weapons Research, and coordinated with the
Office of East Asian Analysis. Comments or questions may be
directed to the Chief, Science and Technology Division,
OSWR,
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China has the ninth largest electric power industry in the
world, but its per capita output of power remains very low, on a
level with that of India, Zaire and Bolivia. Chinese newspapers
have repeatedly reported that China's policymakers have assigned
high priority to the development of its power industry in an effort
to relieve industrial power shortages. As much as 20-30 percent of
China's industrial production has been idled by the serious shortage
of power. Demand continues to exceed supply, which, together with
inadequate transmission facilities, creates difficulties for China's
industrial sectors. For example, the Guangzhou heavy machinery
industry has such an acute power shortage that the plant has to be
closed down on Thursday each week. Night shifts have to be routinely
used to compensate for serious power shortages during the day time.
China has made substantial progress in electric power
generation, with capacity almost tripling in the past decade,
reaching 68,000 MW in 1981. Output is growing at an annual average
rate of 9 percent. As of late 1981, China had 73 large power
stations (around 250 MW) and 300 medium ones (around 50 MW), with
most of their equipment manufactured domestically.
generating capability by 1985. Many power stations have not been
able to use all the electricity they produce due to the lack of
adequate transmission networks. During 1980, 5812 km of mainly 110
kV transmission lines were built. In 1981, 28% of the Chinese power
industry's outlay was allocated to constructing transmission lines
and transformer substations. Since modernization of industry and
agriculture depends on a steady expanding power supply in all parts
of China and since the lack of a well-developed long-distance
transmission network is the most serious shortcoming in China's
electric power industry, the power industry will continue to get top
priority in the allocation of state funds and resources.
Most of China's hydropower resources are located in the western
part of the country with few good sites on the industrially
developed eastern seaboard. The construction of 500 kV high voltage
power transmission lines would allow long-distance transmission of
electricity from the west to the east. Such lines also could ease
the coal transportation problem by enabling coal-fired power
stations to be built adjacent to major coal mines. A member of the
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Ministry of Power Industry recently indicated that none of the
foreign contracts in the power industry has been cancelled and that
negotiations for new contracts are underway. We believe that China's
power industry is receiving high priority in the allocation of state
investments and that it will continue to develop and expand
Every province and region in China except Xinjiang and Xizang
(Tibet) has its own power grid. Twelve of these have capacities of 1
million kw or more. The five major provincial grids in the east,
northeast, central, north and northwest regions of China have
capacities ranging between 4 and 10 million kw. China's large
territory and difficult terrain make it almost impossible to link
every rural area into the major power grids during the next 20-25
years.
The East China power grid will be used to illustrate the
problems encountered in China's power grids. The East China grid has
a total installed capacity of 9 million kw, 1.5 million kw of which
is generated at two fossil fuel power stations in Shanghai.
According to the Ministry of Electric Power Industry's director
for foreign affairs, the Chinese state plan calls for an annual
nationwide increase in generating capacity of 2 million kw, with
300,000 kw of that to be in the East China grid area. But engineers
in the same organization could not identify new construction or
planned expansion that could account for such an increase in
generating capacity in the next five years. Shanghai now has a 10
percent deficiency in power during peak load hours. In addition to
shortened day shift operations, many industries have to operate on
night shifts.
Any increased demand will have to be met by juggling power
allocations and by a hoped-for three percent annual increase in the
efficiency of industrial energy use. In Shanghai there is an active
program to replace inefficient existing transmission lines and'
transformers and to build additional substations which will reduce
low voltage transmission distances.
the Ministry of Electric Power Industry has directed
the Nanjing Automation Research Institute (NARI) to design a 500 kV
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system to interlink China's main power grids. The Ministry tasked
NARI to include as much domestic input to the project as possible.
The Director of NARI said that the purchase of any needed foreign
technology should not be a problem since the budget for this project
is a major national priority. NARI's goal was to interlink main
regional grids by the early 1990s.
China recently completed its first 500 kV power transmission
lines in the central China region. The 600 km line connects a power
plant in the Pingdingshan coal mining area of the Henan Province
with the industrial city of Wuhan in neighboring Hubei Province.
This computer controlled line started delivering electricity in
December 1981. This line was not operational earlier because large
quantities of angle iron, bracing wires, conducting cables and other
materials were stolen from a section in Hubei Province. It will be
connected to the 2.7 million kw Gezhouba hydroelectric plant in
Yichang in the near future.
China's goal is to complete
2,000 km of 500 kV transmission lines by 1985. This will upgrade
China's transmission system significantly since 500 kV lines can
transmit 3 times as much power as 330 kV lines. Currently 110 and
220 kV lines are standard in China, but China also has two 330 kV
lines. In contrast, the United States first used 500 kV lines in
1964, and now 750 kV lines are widely used.
Japan, France, and Sweden have provided assistance to China's
efforts to manufacture 750,000 kva single-phase transformers, mutual
inductance devices, protective relays, control instruments, and
meters. China domestically manufactures towers, insulating porcelain
and metal cables and structures.
China must overcome major obstacles before it can rapidly
construct 330 kV and 500 kV transmission lines to interconnect power
grids and deliver power from remote hydropower stations. The Chinese
lack experience with high voltage lines. They also face a shortage
of materials that are needed in the construction of power lines,
such as steel for the towers, aluminum conductors, and construction
equipment. In China, most foundation holes for towers and tower
poles are dug manually. Even though there is a ready supply of
laborers, the pace of construction is slow. In the US, a
transmission line of 160 km can be constructed in a few months,
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whereas in China,
to construct.
a comparable line would take more than two years
Another 500 kV lines is under construction in northern China.
All necessary equipment for this line will be indigenously produced.
There are also two more 500 kV lines planned. One of them will
extend from Shuoxian to Beijing. It will link the existing
transmission network of Beijing and will receive power from an
expanded thermal power plant near Shuoxian and also from a new 1.2
million kw thermal power plant being built at Datong. The other
planned 500 kV line will supply power to Nanjing and Shanghai from a
350 mw thermal power plant at Huaibei.
Shanghai Cable
Research Institute focuses on 500 kV
power cable development. Like many research institutes in China, it
is not actually involved in research and development on new cable
products but in the analysis of US and western cables for high
electric power transmission. The Institute is responsible for
identifying foreign production processes and cable configurations
and for setting up pilot production operations to test the
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feasibility of domestic production.
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automated power lags behind
In order to remedy existing
deficiency, the Chinese have a continued effort to keep up with the
current Western technology. In addition, they have purchased some
representative Western instruments. For example, they have acquired
items such as Hewlett-Packard radio spectrum analyzers, Tektronix
Corporation oscilloscopes and Motorola electronic instruments. We
believe the Chinese want to use these instruments to reproduce and
to develop prototype 500 kV equipment for later manufacture in
China.
The Chinese are interested in ultra high voltage alternate
current (UHVAC) power transmission and high voltage direct current
(HVDC) transmission technology in order to get higher efficiency in
transmission and to transmit power to longer distances. But due to
lack of funding and adequately trained manpower in the field of high
voltage transmission technology, we do not expect China to develop
UHVAC and HVDC until the late 1980s to the early 1990s. By then the
planned development of large-scale hydroelectric plants such as the
Hongshui River Project and the Three Gorges Project will require
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extensive long-distance transmission networks. Extending the current
power transmission networks, which consist mostly of the 110 kV and
220 kV power lines, will not handle transmission requirements of
long distance and heavy loads. China's ability to meet these needs
will mainly depend on offshore oil development being able to provide
the needed exchange to pay for the imported technology.
Foreign Participation
In the near term, we believe China will continue to seek
favorable loan terms from the World Bank and developed nations for
the development of its 500 kV transmission lines. A cable from the
US embassy in Beijing disclosed that, according to officials of the
newly reorganized Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power,
China will seek to purchase high voltage transmission equipment
including transformers, control equipment, materials, construction
machinery, power generators and associated machinery.
China's First ministry of machine
Building (FMMB) has been interested in acquiring US lightning
arrestors since 1979. FMMB is also interested in licensing US
technology for the manufacture of capacitors for HV shunting
operations. In June 1981, the China National Technology Import
Corporation, acting on behalf of the FMMB, signed a US $500,000
contract with a US power equipment company for arrestors. The
contract will be fulfilled over a 3-year period. It includes
training and manufacturing assistance for station arrestors,
distribution arrestors, low voltage arrestors and discharge
counters.
Surge arrestors currently produced in China can only handle up
to 220 kV. US arrestor technology will provide China with the
capability to handle long distance 500 kV lines.
The Xian Power Transformer Factory of the FMMB will be the first
to use silicon carbide technology. Before it can implement this
technology, the Xian plant also needs foreign assistance in
developing new tooling, pressing, and tooling equipment. Since
improving their current silicon carbide arrestors will adequately
meet their transmission requirements, the Chinese have decided not
to purchase the more advanced and more expensive zinc oxide disk
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Although China has not disclosed any plans for specific HVDC
transmission proiects,-F
China is interested in HVDC transmission technology.
The US, together with West Germany, Japan, Sweden and France, are
the leading sources of technical assistance. HVDC transmission
technology is very sophisticated, requiring a precise silicon
production capability for manufacturing power thyristors.
Complicated circuit boards have to be used in its electronic control
panels and converters. Special transformer, arrestor, and assembly
technology will also be required. We estimate that it would take 10
years to have one or more HVDC transmission lines in operation if
China decides to seek foreign assistance and to develop a domestic
manufacturing capability in this advanced technology.
in 1980, China signed
an agreement to acquire 500 Kv power trans ormer technology from the
French firm of Merlin Giron. The French manufacturer Alsthom
supplied China with the first shipment of 500 kV transformers. And
FMMB factories were using design information obtained from the
French to duplicate the Alsthom transformer. The Chinese have also
talked to the West German firm of Brown Boveri and Siemens and US
companies about acquisition of protective relay technology.
Japan, with the most technologically advanced steel
industry in the world, is interested in providing China with steel
materials for towers, cables and construction equipment. Japan is
also planning to sell a microwave communication system for China's
planned Fangshan Switching and Control Center. The Swedish firm ASEA
has supplied China with a variety of advanced power equipment for
its 500 kV network. Canada has offered to provide long range power
line technology so that China can build generating stations near
coal mines and then transmit electricity to distant cities.
We believe that China will continue to diversify its sources of
foreign technology and equipment so as to avoid being too dependent
on one source. Because they lack needed foreign exchange, the
Chinese will attempt to acquire adequate but not necessarily state-
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of-the-art technology as in the case of their decision to purchase
silicon carbide arrestors rather than the more advanced and more
expensive zinc oxide arrestors. Although the Chinese are trying to
replace and duplicate foreign technology with indigenous systems,
their success in the near term is doubtful because of the
backwardness of China?s electric power transmission industry,
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Distribution:
Orig - Addressee
1 - A/DDI
1 - Executive Director
1 - DDI Registry
1. - C/Pubs Group/OSWR
1 - D/OEAA
1 - NIO/EA
1 - D/OGI
1 - DOS (Lee Peters)
1 - DOC (Dave Denny)
1 - DOC (Dan Stein)
1 - DOC (Lily Monk)
1 - C/STD/SWR
1 - OSWR Chrono
1 - STD Chrono
1 - CSTB Chrono
1 - STD/CSTB
OSIVR/STD/CSTB~ I (6 August 1982)
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