News on China's scientific and technological development.

That's because China is the next bogeyman for these fictional writers to exploit the possible drama and get paid for it by their publishers. It's feeding fear frenzy these days.

These guys should really get a thank you letter from AVIC. The more they underestimate Chinese engineering, the better.

How is that guy wrong? he was correct in the problems pointed out. like he said, china doesnt have a problem making the single crystal blades, its just the perfection rate is too low, leading to expensive final product. The two top factors in perfection rates, apart from historical know-how, are the quality control system and experienced technicians. China did in fact produced jet engines for decades, but not until very recently were those high tech single crystal blades put into mass production. In the past it was mostly R&D, therefore only a small amount of technicians are experienced.
In terms of quality control, it is unarguable that western standards were not enforced until last decade or two, perhaps until less than a decade ago in some departments.

I don't see what's wrong with the highlighted sections.

PS: that article is too long, i only read the highlighted part. the rest may be idiotic, but as for the highlighted part itself, it is not flawed.

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Construction of an ultra-high voltage power transmission line designed with the world's largest capacity started Sunday in China's far western Xinjiang region.

The 800 kv ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission line connects the energy base of Hami prefecture in eastern Xinjiang with the central city of Zhengzhou, according to the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), the project contractor.

The 2,210-km-long line goes through the vast region of Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan. It costs 23.39 billion yuan (3.7 billion U.S.dollars), and is designed to have a transmission capacity of 8 million kw upon completion in 2014, setting up a new world record.

The line will transmit 37 billion kwh on average annually, according to Liu Zhenya, general manager of the State Grid Corporation of China. "We can reduce 317,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide and 267,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxide which would otherwise be produced during the transportation," Liu said.

Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, attended the construction launch ceremony in Xinjiang.

In the meantime, a second 750-kv HVDC transmission line which links Xinjiang with the main network of the Northwest China Grid Co. Ltd. kicked off on Sunday.

With an investment of 9.56 billion yuan, the 2,180-km-long line will become the major route to transmit wind and solar power generated in Hami prefecture, Jiuquan city of Gansu province, and Qaidam basin in Qinghai province to the rest parts of the country.

The construction boom of the ultra-high voltage power transmission lines came as the country strives to transmit the electricity from the energy-rich west to the booming central and eastern regions.

Xinjiang has 2 trillion tonnes of coal reserve, one third of which is in Hami. Meanwhile, Hami is one of the country's major wind power bases.

China's large energy bases are mostly distributed in the west and north, more than 2,000 km from the power network load centers in the eastern and central regions, said Zhang Guobao, director of Expert Advisory Committee under the National Energy Administration.

"The ultra-high power transmission lines are a way out for the country's imbalanced distribution of energy reserve," Zhang said.

Ultra-high voltage power transmission (UHVPT) projects, however, have met many obstacles, as some doubt whether the technology is mature enough and can bring about economic benefit.

China has been suffering prolonged and ever worsening power shortage in recent years, a driving force for the country to develop long-distance, high-voltage power transmission lines.

Starting from March 2011, an unprecedented power shortage swept most southern and eastern provinces and municipalities, with a supply gap of 30 million kilowatts, according to China Electricity Council.

"In spite of the controversy, the projects will continuously be carried forward," said Zhou Fengqi, deputy president of China Energy Society.

Industry insiders have said the State Grid Corporation of China will push for the construction of four alternating current and three direct current ultra-high voltage power transmission lines across the country, with an investment exceeding 300 billion yuan in 2012 alone.

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China's annual natural gas consumption will add up to 260 billion cubic meters by the end of 2015, representing 7% to 8% of total energy consumption, according to a five-year plan released by the National Energy Administration.

The nation's natural gas consumption expanded 20.6% to 129 billion cubic meters last year, or 4% of total energy consumption, the plan shows.

By the end of 2015, China will have to produce 170 billion cubic meters of natural gas and import 90 billion cubic meters per year to meet domestic demand.

A strong appetite for cleaner vehicles has driven up demand for natural gas. The number of natural gas-powered vehicles in China has surged from 10,000 in 2000 to more than a million last year, making the country the fourth largest natural gas-powered auto market in Asia and sixth largest in the world.

This growing market will help boost China's natural gas consumption to 400 billion cubic meters annually by 2030, when domestic output is projected to total just 250 billion cubic meters, meaning as many as 150 billion cubic meters need to be imported, predicted Jia Chen, former vice president of CNPC, the parent of China's largest oil and gas explorer PetroChina Co.

To ease strained supplies, China will step up the development of unconventional resources such as shale gas, coalbed gas and oil sand.

China will also press ahead with the shift from government-set prices to a system based on international fluctuations in a move to better regulate the industry.

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... but still must import turbine blades from Russia.

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I've never heard of this before. Any source for this claim?

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SEMICONDUCTOR Manufacturing International Corp and Beijing's city government will form a joint venture for the construction of a highly-advanced US$1 billion chip factory in the capital, the Chinese mainland's biggest chip maker said yesterday.

Although SMIC and the Beijing government didn't reveal investment details of the company's second-phase wafer plant, analysts estimated it will be at least US$1 billion.

"It's a good time for SMIC to increase production capacity because the market is going to rebound," said Vincent Gu, an analyst of iSuppli, a US-based research firm.

The second phase of SMIC's Beijing plant will cost US$1 billion to US$2 billion, Gu said.

The SMIC Beijing plant will operate at the more advanced 45/40 nanometer and 32/28 nanometer technology nodes.

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A major milestone in the construction of unit 4 of the Ningde nuclear power plant in China's Fujian province has been reached with the dome of the reactor building being successfully lowered into place.



On 5 May, in an operation lasting just under one hour, the 144-tonne reactor dome was lifted by a giant crane and placed on top of the containment building walls, according to plant constructor China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Corporation. The operation to install the dome - with a diametre of 37 metres and a height of 11 metres - was completed at 7:13am. Work on the nuclear island at Ningde 4 officially began on 29 September 2010 at a ceremony attended by project partners China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company and Datang International.

Four Chinese-designed CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors are currently under construction at the Ningde site, near Fuding city. Work on the first Ningde unit started in February 2008, with construction of units 2 and 3 beginning in November 2008 and January 2010, respectively. All four units at the site are scheduled to come online between late 2012 and 2015.

The construction of two further CPR-1000 reactors is planned for Phase II of the Ningde plant.

Meanwhile, another CPR-1000 project at China National Nuclear Corp's Fangjiashan in Zhejiang province has reached another milestone. In an operation lasting almost six hours, the reactor pressure vessel of unit 1's reactor was successfully installed on the backing ring on 30 April.

The Fangjiashan project will see two CPR-1000 reactors with a combined capacity of 2160 MWe constructed near the existing Qinshan plant. First concrete for the first unit at the Fangjiashan plant was poured in December 2008, while that for the second was poured in July 2009. The dates scheduled for the start of their commercial operation are December 2013 and October 2014, respectively.

The CPR-1000 is a standardized Chinese design developed from the two Areva PWRs imported for the Daya Bay plant in Guangdong province, starting up in 1994. Those units were built to the French three-loop standard, outputting 944 MWe. The CPR-1000 builds on that to produce 1080 MWe. The CPR-1000, along with Westinghouse's AP1000, is a mainstay of China's planned near-term nuclear capacity expansion, with 18 CPR-1000s already under construction.

CottageLV said:

How is that guy wrong? he was correct in the problems pointed out. like he said, china doesnt have a problem making the single crystal blades, its just the perfection rate is too low, leading to expensive final product. The two top factors in perfection rates, apart from historical know-how, are the quality control system and experienced technicians. China did in fact produced jet engines for decades, but not until very recently were those high tech single crystal blades put into mass production. In the past it was mostly R&D, therefore only a small amount of technicians are experienced.
In terms of quality control, it is unarguable that western standards were not enforced until last decade or two, perhaps until less than a decade ago in some departments.

I don't see what's wrong with the highlighted sections.

PS: that article is too long, i only read the highlighted part. the rest may be idiotic, but as for the highlighted part itself, it is not flawed.

Click to expand...

WRT quality control, the massive improvements in Chinese ship construction with the incorporation of Six Sigma et al methods is also having an effect in Chinese gas turbine construction too, as cross-collaboration in quality control methods between aviation and ship construction will improve the rate production of Chinese domestic turbines. It shouldn't be a surprise to see a massive surge of domestic turbine production in the next several years once all these elements fall into place.

escobar said:

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How competitive are SMIC in comparison to TSMC from Taiwan?