World's highest county included in State Grid electric coverage

Tsonyi county, the world's highest county with an elevation of more than 5,000 meters, was officially included in the coverage of the main network of the State Grid on Dec 24.

It means over 7,300 villagers in the county in Nagchu city, Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, can now get access to a reliable power supply.

So far, 65 of Tibet's 74 counties (districts) have been supplied electricity by the State Grid, benefiting 85 percent of the region's population.

The air there is only 40 percent as oxygenated as in the mainland, and there are 10 long months of winter each year, with temperatures as low as -40 C. In such a "life restricted area", the power supply in Tsonyi was not stable at all.

"We could hardly use stable power before. Sometimes there was even no electricity, so that candles were needed. But now that we can reach out to the State Grid, I believe our life will be better," said a villager in Tsonyi county.

In order to provide farmers and herdsmen at high altitudes in Tsonyi county with access to the State Grid, the Tibet Power Company of the State Grid began to implement the power grid construction project in the impoverished areas of Tsonyi, with an investment of 600 million yuan ($85.7 million).