Grid striving to ensure supply

China Southern Power Grid said on Tuesday it is striving to ensure stable electricity supplies as cold weather grips areas of southern China.

Wang Xiaochun, the company's publicity manager, said more than 300 pieces of equipment are now working in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to melt ice-covering electricity transmission lines and monitor the operation of the power grid to ensure stable power supplies.

Residents in Chenzhou, Hunan province, remove snow from a road on Tuesday, when a new round of snow and frost was expected to hit the city. [Photo/China Daily]

"We have mobilized more workers to patrol major transmission lines to prevent and prepare for possible emergencies," he told China Daily on Tuesday.

But senior executives from China Southern Power Grid have promised that there will be no major blackouts even if the weather worsens over the next few days.

The company said this week that it has prepared contingency plans to ensure stable electricity supplies.

According to Wang, 196 electricity transmission lines, including 44 high-voltage lines, were covered with ice on Monday.

Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan were hardest hit by rain and snow during the past few days. All of the ice-bound lines are there, causing concern over a possible blackout in the country's southern and southwestern regions.

To ensure stable electricity supplies, more than 850 employees and 199 vehicles have been sent to grid facilities to help maintain the transmission lines and monitor operations, Wang said.

Guizhou and Yunnan, which have rich water resources and are home to many power plants, are the major suppliers of electricity to the Pearl River Delta region, one of the major electricity consumers on the mainland.