A row of Farizon methanol-powered heavy trucks roll off the production line at a new energy commercial vehicle plant of Geely in Shanxi province. [Photo by Shi Xiaobo for China Daily]

Wide-ranging projects improve infrastructure and livelihood for residents in Shanxi

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Shanxi's economy maintained steady growth in 2022. Infrastructure service providers such as electricity suppliers and industrial property developers are playing a supportive role in this economic stabilization.

Shanxi Geely Automobiles, based in the Shanxi New Energy Automobiles and Machinery Manufacturing Park in the central Shanxi city of Jinzhong, is a large company with an annual output of 120,000 new energy vehicles and an annual sales revenue of about 13 billion yuan ($1.88 billion). It is also one of the largest electricity consumers in Jinzhong.

"The rapid and healthy growth of our company is inseparable from the support of State Grid Jinzhong Electricity," said Wu Xiaowei, an executive at Shanxi Geely Automobiles.

He said this major electricity supplier in Jinzhong offers tailored solutions and services to manufacturing enterprises to ensure their stable operations.

"Jinzhong Electricity has a perfect communication mechanism with local companies," Wu said. "For instance, its staff members pay regular visits to our company to learn about our operations, demands and expansion plans for the future."

The regular visits have resulted in a tailored solution for Shanxi Geely, which includes a specific power grid for the company, with capacity reserved for its future development, according to Wu.

The capacity of the grid for Shanxi Geely now stands at 40 megavolt-ampere, while its monthly electricity consumption has reached 1 million kilowatt-hours.

Over the past year, State Grid Shanxi Electricity, the parent of Jinzhong Electricity, has made great efforts and mobilized all its resources to ensure a stable power supply for clients.

In 2022, the company began a new zoning scheme for its 220-kW provincial grid, dividing the whole system into seven distribution zones, compared with the previous four zones. The company's executives said a more segmented zoning system can better ensure power supply safety and efficiency.

"Shanxi Electricity began to operate four distribution zones in 2007," a company executive said. "Over the past 15 years, Shanxi's power industry has seen a substantial increase in both generation capacity and grid transmission capacity, which requires a more segmented distribution zoning plan."

The company's data show that the power installation capacity in Shanxi has increased 260 percent over the last 15 years, while its main grid transmission capacity has grown 320 percent.

In addition to meeting the demand from clients in the province, the company has played an important role in ensuring supply to the rest of the country.

The company's electricity is currently supplied to other regions of the country through its three alternating-current and one direct-current superhigh-voltage transmission grids.

In 2022, Shanxi supplied 105.3 billion kWh of electricity to 22 provinces and regions in China, an increase of 14.6 percent from 2021. The supply has played an important role in addressing the nationwide power shortage caused by the reduced capacity of hydropower stations in the southwest, central and eastern regions of the country due to less rain.

Also playing an important part in stabilizing Shanxi's economic growth are the province's industrial property developers, especially the operators of development zones and industrial parks.

On Jan 1, the city of Houma announced the operation of the Xintian Road project and developments in its vicinity with a total investment of 1.76 billion yuan.

Xintian township, in which the road is located, is an emerging urban area in Houma and a new industrial development area in the city. Local officials said the construction of infrastructure aims to attract more investors while improving the living environment for residents.

On the same day as the start of Xintian Road's operation, Houma also announced the groundbreaking of 15 key projects with a total investment of 2.88 billion yuan. They cover nine industrial projects funded by investors, three projects for improving residents' well-being and three infrastructure projects.

The industrial projects include a 5G smart electricity technology project worth 500 million yuan, an energy storage project worth 656 million yuan, a medical herbs development project worth 360 million yuan and a 274 million yuan project for producing degradable plastics.

Xiaohe Industrial Park, a major investment destination in the city of Jinzhong, announced the operation of the Xiaohe International Convention and Exhibition Center on Jan 1.

This is the largest facility of its kind in Shanxi province, which is expected to become a new landmark in Shanxi's modern service industry, said local officials, who added that it will become a major venue for businesses to hold exhibitions and networking events.

Du Juan and Zhang Zhigang contributed to this story.