(Yicai) Aug. 21 -- China will be increasingly looking at Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Xizang Autonomous Region to meet its surging energy demand over the next 10 years, according to the deputy chief engineer of State Grid Corporation of China.

China's electricity consumption will maintain medium-speed growth over the next decade, with a growth rate of around 5.6 percent during the 15th Five-Year Plan covering next year to 2030 and about 4.3 percent during the 16th Five-Year Plan from 2031 to 2035, Ouyang Changyu said at a power industry forum yesterday.

After 20 years of development, Sichuan province, the main base of China's West-to-East Power Transmission program, has shifted from a net energy exporter to a power importer, Ouyang noted, adding that electricity demand will be met by Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, as well as Xizang once the CNY1.2 trillion (USD167.2 billion) mega dam in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River is completed.

Inner Mongolia's power generation reached 818 billion kilowatt-hours last year, accounting for 8.7 percent of China's total and ranking first nationwide. Xinjiang ranked fifth with about 531.3 billion kWh.

The total electricity transmitted via Inner Mongolia's ultra-high-voltage grid was 648 billion kWh last year, while Xinjiang's outbound power transmission reached a record high of over 126 billion kWh, according to data from local power authorities. Renewable energy was the primary driver of the growth.

Inner Mongolia will continue to build large-scale wind and photovoltaic power bases in the Gobi Desert, said a representative from the region's energy bureau. It aims to add 40 million kW of renewable energy installed capacity this year, bringing the total to over 170 million kW, while ensuring that outbound electricity transmission from such energy sources exceeds 100 billion kWh, the person noted.

In addition, Xizang's mega hydropower project, which began construction on July 19, is expected to have an installed capacity of 60 to 70 million kW, equivalent to five Three Gorges Dams, the largest hydropower station in the world.

Editor: Martin Kadiev