Xinjiang to invest 40.8 bln yuan in rural power grid construction

URUMQI - Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region will channel 40.8 billion yuan ($6.32 billion) to power grid construction in its rural areas over the following five years.

The money will help projects such as rural resident relocation, village construction, urbanization as well as agriculture and animal husbandry production.

By 2020, the rural power grid, which will include 110kv rural power grids, 35kv rural power grids, 10kv power grids and low-voltage power grids, will ensure rural residents have the same power services as city dwellers.

Rural electricity consumption in Xinjiang is forecast to rise from 59.7 billion kwh in 2014 to 106 billion kwh in 2020, according to the Xinjiang branch of State Grid Corporation.

So far, Xinjiang has invested 17.08 billion yuan since 2011 to provide power supply to 984,100 people who used to have no access to electricity, the company said.

The upgrading of low-voltage power networks across the region is expected to be completed by the end of 2015, meaning that 112,000 farmers and herdsmen will no longer need to rely on power with unsteady voltage.