Tibet's Nagqu City achieves full coverage of national power grid power supply

(By Dang Yali Solang Ciren, reporter Lu Biao) On December 30, 2019, the "three districts and three prefectures" power grid project in Nima County, Nagqu City was completed and put into operation, marking that all 10 counties in one district of Nagqu City are included in the power supply range of the national grid, which will provide strong power guarantee for Nagqu City to win the battle against poverty.

It is understood that the total investment in power grid construction in the deeply impoverished areas of Tibet's "three districts and three prefectures" is 11.864 billion yuan. Construction started in 2018 and is scheduled to be completed and put into operation by the end of 2020. It will further improve the level of safe and reliable electricity use for farmers and herdsmen in Tibet, and effectively help Tibet win the battle against poverty and build a well-off society in an all-round way.

"Nima County is located in the northern Tibetan Plateau and has a harsh natural environment. Power shortage has always been an important factor restricting the economic and social development of our county. Now that the Tibet-Central Power Grid has been successfully connected to our county, it will greatly promote the economic and social development of our county, consolidate the results of poverty alleviation, improve the quality of life of cadres and the masses, and enhance the happiness index of farmers and herdsmen." Dagi Tsering, deputy county magistrate of Nima County, Nagqu City, said.

There is a proverb in Nima County: "There is not enough oxygen, the wind blows the stones away, you have to wear cotton-padded jackets in summer and roast on the fire in winter." The average altitude of the county is above 4,500 meters. It is cold and oxygen-deficient, with a large temperature difference between day and night, frequent wind and snow, and an average annual temperature of -4°C. Previously, it relied on a small hydropower station and a photovoltaic power station for power supply, especially in winter when electricity supply was in short supply.

Affected by the adverse climate and environment, the effective period of power construction is only about 3-4 months, which greatly affects the work efficiency of personnel and machinery. A total of about 850 million yuan has been invested in the construction of power grids in the "three districts and three prefectures" in the deeply impoverished areas of Nima County, involving 9 townships, which will improve and enhance the safe and reliable power supply of 3,715 households with nearly 20,000 people.

State Grid Nagqu Power Supply Company overcame difficulties and took multiple measures to promote the construction of the project. Through "Party building" to lead "infrastructure", a temporary party branch was established to strengthen the "branch built on the project, the party flag planted on the construction site, and party members charging on the front line", giving full play to the cohesion, combat effectiveness, creativity and leading role of the party organization and party members, forming a "Communist Party Pioneer Service Team", and carrying out various technical research activities. A total of 12 technical difficulties on the construction site were solved; mechanized construction was fully implemented, and the foundation pit, tower erection, and line laying of the Nima power transmission and transformation project were fully mechanized. A total of 2,400 excavators, cranes, trucks and other machines were used, which not only reduced the impact of high altitude on the health of construction workers, but also improved the efficiency of project construction; safety management was strictly enforced, and the Winter Construction Safety Management was formulated. The project management team has formulated a safety control plan, implemented safety responsibilities at all levels, strengthened the control of key factors, focused on "key people", controlled "key points", strictly controlled the on-site operation order, and carried out the standardization construction of the project department in a solid manner; increased logistics and medical support, and reasonably set up medical stations in response to the harsh environment of Nima County such as high altitude, high radiation, low air pressure, and hypoxia. Each medical station is equipped with medical personnel, medical equipment, oxygen inhalation rooms, etc. according to the scale of construction. At the same time, mobile medical service vehicles are used to carry out medical inspections; innovative project management models are established, and a linkage mechanism between supply and demand departments is established to address the problems of heavy construction tasks and short effective construction periods. A reasonable material supply plan is formulated, and new prefabricated materials are used to ensure the progress of project construction.

"Since 2010, the county has developed hydropower and photovoltaic power generation, but due to the large area of ​​Nima County, it cannot fully meet the power supply demand. However, today, the electricity from the State Grid has been officially connected to our county, which has brought great convenience to our farmers and herdsmen. Not only can we use refrigerators and washing machines, but we can also watch various current affairs news on TV. All this is due to the hard work of the State Grid staff." Wangjia, a resident of Nima County, said happily.