International power equipment producers plan to enter China's market this year as the country faces the challenge of meeting the increasing demand for electricity, the China Environment News reported.

According to the report, a symposium and exhibition, China Power 2005, sponsored by Power-Gen, will be held in China in June this year with the aid of PennWell Corporation, a global business-to-business information provider.

This will be the first time for China to host the international conference.

Participants at the symposium will discuss the development of China's power market, how to raise funds for the industry and maintenance of the power plants in China. Brand-new equipment manufactured by international power companies will be on display during the exhibition.

The report said 144 power plants are now under construction in China. It is estimated that China's total installed capacity will increase from present 385 gigawatts (GW) to 2,400 GW by the year 2020.

It is widely believed that China needs to build more power plants to meet the increasing demand for electricity. Thirty-two percent of global orders for power equipment will come from China between 2003 and 2005.

China's power industry is not fully open to foreign investors, who are only allowed to build power plants in China on the basis of build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreements. However, Chinese enterprises are permitted to purchase equipment from foreign companies.

According to Liu Zhenya, general manager of the State Grid Corp.of China, the country's power shortage remains severe in 2005, with the toughest time in the summer.

The greatest power shortage might climb to about 25 million kilowatts, Liu said.

Earlier sources from the State Grid Corp. said China plans to invest 207 billion yuan (about 25 billion US dollars) this year to upgrade and build up the nationwide power grid.

Source: Xinhua