The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 414: West-to-East Power Transmission
At the junction of Yun County and Jingdong County in western Yunnan Province.

At this time, a grand ceremony was being held as the first unit of the Manwan Hydropower Station was connected to the grid for power generation.

Manwan Hydropower Station is located in the middle reaches of Canglan River, 1km downstream of Manwan River estuary at the junction of Yun County and Jingdong County in western Yunnan Province, 140km from Lincang and 200km from DL City. The hydropower station is a comprehensive hydropower station with the goals of power generation, irrigation, water diversion and flood control. It adopts a concrete gravity dam with a height of 132 meters and a total storage capacity of 9.2 million cubic meters. The first phase of the project has an installed capacity of 125 million kilowatts, a guaranteed output of 38.42 kilowatts and an annual power generation of 63 billion kilowatt-hours. After the construction of Xiaowan Hydropower Station upstream, the second phase of the power station has an installed capacity of 25 kilowatts, a total installed capacity of 150 million kilowatts, a guaranteed output of 79.6 kilowatts, and an annual power generation of 78.8 billion kilowatt-hours.

The first unit is now connected to the grid for power generation. Two years later, all five units will be put into operation, and the first phase of the project will be completed. By 5, the two phases of the project will be completed.

The development of China has been faster than anyone expected. This year, Sichuan, mountainous areas, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other provinces have begun to experience water and power shortages. Rural areas have also experienced regular water and power outages every day to ensure the development of cities.

Panshan Group, Yunnan Province, Guangxi Province, Guizhou Province, and Sichuan Province have joined together to form the Southwest Power Grid, which is responsible for the power supply and distribution in the entire southwest. It also develops the hydropower resources in the southwest and is responsible for supplying electricity to Guangdong Province.

The Manwan Hydropower Station is an important one among them.

The entire dam site is located at the lower part of the 'S'-shaped sharp bend. The river valley is narrow, with a bottom width of only more than 60 meters and a width of about 1000 meters at an altitude of 420 meters. The left bank is thin and faces the river on three sides, with a uniform slope of about 40°. The right bank is strong and has a terrain slope of 20°~35°.

The dam site controls a basin area of ​​11.45 square kilometers, with an average flow of 1230 cubic meters per second over many years, a normal water storage level of 994 meters, a dead water level of 982 meters, an extraordinary flood level of 997.5 meters, a total reservoir capacity of 9.2 million cubic meters, and a regulating reservoir capacity of 2.58 million cubic meters.

The first phase of grid-connected power generation of the Manwan Hydropower Station is extremely important to the Southwest Power Grid.

According to the established Southwest Power Grid, Panshan Group owns 45% of the shares, and the other four provinces and the Ministry of Electric Power hold a total of 55%.

In Yunnan Province, in addition to the Manwan Hydropower Station, there are also the Dachaoshan Hydropower Station and the Rubuge Hydropower Station, whose first units are about to be connected to the grid for power generation.

Dachaoshan Hydropower Station is not far from Manwan Hydropower Station. It is located in the middle reaches of Canglan River, 1.5 kilometers downstream of the entrance of Naguo River tributary. It is the next cascade power station of Manwan Hydropower Station. It is 70 kilometers away from Manwan Hydropower Station and 270 kilometers away from Kunming City. The hydropower station has power generation as the sole development goal. It is a roller-compacted concrete overflow gravity dam with a maximum dam height of 115 meters, a total reservoir capacity of 9.4 million cubic meters, an installed capacity of 135 million kilowatts, and an annual power generation of 59.31 billion kilowatt-hours.

The Rubuge Hydropower Station is located in Luoping County of Yunnan Province and Xingyi City of Guizhou Province. The main dam of the power station is a rockfill dam with a maximum dam height of 103.8 meters. It is a diversion-type hydropower station whose main task is to generate electricity. It has an installed capacity of 600 million kilowatts, a guaranteed output of 85 kilowatts, and an annual power generation of 30 billion kilowatt-hours.

In addition, there are 22 hydropower stations under construction or planned in Yunnan Province alone.

The entire southwest has abundant hydropower resources, which can be developed and constructed.

In addition to generating electricity, irrigation, water diversion and flood control, which will benefit the southwest region, a large amount of electricity will be transmitted to Guangdong Province. Liu Tao named this plan "West-to-East Power Transmission".

No matter how the southwest region develops, the ceiling will always be visible.

However, the southwest is not without advantages. One is that it is the heartland of China, and it is safest to place military industries and other industries related to national defense security in the southwest. Another is that my country's hydropower resources rank first in the world, and the western region has great potential for hydropower generation.

Among them, the southwest has the richest hydropower resources, accounting for 70% of the country, but has been very little developed.

The launch of the strategic project of 'West-to-East Power Transmission' not only effectively utilizes these hydropower resources, but also provides opportunities for the development of the western region.

The "West-to-East Power Transmission" has two lines. The southern line transmits electricity from Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places to South China, and the central line transmits electricity from Sichuan and other places to Central and East China.

Once the entire "West-to-East Power Transmission" is completed, the annual power generation of these hydropower stations alone will reach 1.344 trillion kWh, which is a very considerable number. Even if 1 kWh of electricity is sold at 0.25 yuan, the annual revenue will be 3360 billion yuan.

Of course, the total investment is also huge. It is estimated that 4500 billion yuan will be invested and it will take a total of 40 years to build all the hydropower stations.

4500 billion RMB is just the current estimate, and it will definitely be higher in the future. The entire plan may cost more than trillion RMB. This is just the construction investment. If you add in the land acquisition, demolition and resettlement, this number may double or even quadruple.

Thanks to the huge investment made by Panshan Machinery Factory, Yunnan Province is in the best situation in the entire southwest region, and there has been no power or water shortage so far.

Liu Tao was very excited when he saw the first unit officially connected to the grid and generating electricity.

Who would have thought that in just a few years, Yunnan Province's annual power generation has increased several times, and that Yunnan Province's power generation will continue to maintain rapid growth in the next few years.

And all these are the butterfly effects caused by him.

Liu Tao has a clear positioning for Panshan Group: based in the southwest, focusing on the whole country, and heading towards the world!

The entire Panshan Group system is also a major electricity consumer.

After all, industrial development itself cannot be separated from electricity.

This is still the case now. In the future, as there are more and more mobile phones, more and more electrical appliances, more and more shopping malls, and more and more factories, the demand for electricity will grow explosively.

In 1979, the national power generation was 2820 billion kWh, which basically met the national electricity demand. However, by 2019, the national electricity consumption had reached 7.3 trillion kWh, and it was still not enough. There were still power shortages in some places, which means that a 26-fold increase in power generation was still not enough.

It is conceivable how rapidly China's electricity demand is growing.

Liu Tao promoted the "West-to-East Power Transmission" project because he knew how horribly China's electricity consumption was growing, and that no matter how much electricity was generated, it would not be enough in the future.

To this end, Liu Tao not only developed high-probability hydropower unit technology, but also developed ultra-high voltage transmission technology.

In addition to hydropower, thermal power stations will naturally be built to utilize thermal power.

Even when conditions are right in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, he will push for the construction of hydropower stations and thermal power stations in these places.

After all, electricity resources are extremely important resources and an important tool for control.

Moreover, the surplus electricity can also be transmitted to China and used for China's development.

After participating in the grid-connected power generation of the first unit of the Manwan Hydropower Station, Liu Tao left Yunnan Province and went to the Yangcheng Shipyard.

At this time, the Yangcheng Shipyard was in full swing, building the Type 022 missile boat, the Type 022A torpedo boat, the minesweeper, the second Type 054 frigate and the first Type 039 submarine.

Today, the Yangcheng Shipyard ranks among the top three in the country in terms of both factory size and number of employees.

In a few years, when all the docks are built and staffed, the entire Yangcheng Shipyard will become the largest shipyard in China.

Even now, the scene in the entire Yangcheng Shipyard is quite impressive, with thousands of people working hard. The sounds of machines and people are all filled with the power of industry.

(End of this chapter)