南方电网虽然在2002年电改之初与国家电网如“同胞兄弟”似的一块儿诞生，但从整体的体量看，南方电网的辖区面积却只有Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Hainan 五个省份，比国家电网掌控的26个省份要小得多。
尽管如此 ，截至2023年底，南方电网公司售电量从2575亿千瓦时增长到13483亿千瓦时，年均增长8.7%；营业收入从1290亿元增长到8426亿元，年均增长9.8%。全网110千伏及以上变电容量从2亿千伏安增长到13.26亿千伏安，线路长度从7.3万公里增长到27.8万公里，分别增长6.63倍和3.81倍。公司连续17年在国务院国资委经营业绩考核中位列A级；连续19年入围世界500强企业.
南方电网取得了今天的成绩与公司的“一把手”有着直接关系。从袁懋振、赵建国到李庆奎、孟振平，这四位南方电网的领导人各有怎样的风格？在他们担任南方电网董事长期间，给公司的成长提供了怎样的助力？

Yuan Maozhen – Winning the "West-to-East Power Transmission"

Five Major Campaigns

Yuan Maozhen was Secretary of the Party Committee, General Manager of China Southern Power Grid from December 2002 to February 2010.

Yuan Maozhen

He did not major in energy, but graduated from Sichuan Institute of Technology with a major in business administration. However, his work experience has been in the power system for a long time. From the beginning as the deputy director of Yantai Power Plant in Shandong to later becoming the group leader of the preparatory group of Southern Power Grid, his life is firmly bound to the power system.

作为南方电网首位负责人，Yuan Maozhen's greatest contribution was winning the five "key battles" in the western electricity delivery to the east.

Beginning with the resolution of the abandoned water problem of Er Tan Hydropower Station to the separation of power plants from the grid in 2002, the establishment of "five large and six small" and "two networks", the early layout was to clear institutional and systemic obstacles for the transmission of electricity from west to east.

The grand opening ceremony was presided over by Qian Yunlu and Zhang Guobao, then-Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee, respectively

When Yuan Mao Zhen took office, he immediately encountered the challenge of how to advance the “West-to-East Power Transmission” project. The “West-to-East Power Transmission” project spanned several provinces and regions, and its construction included hydropower, thermal power, and other power plants as well as long-distance high-voltage AC and DC transmission projects. It was a systematic project, and the coordination work between various localities was quite significant. It required the support and understanding of local governments and the general public along the route.

According to planning, the “West-to-East Power Transmission Project” will consist of three branches: (1) transmitting the hydropower resources of the Wujang River in Guizhou, the Lancang River in Yunnan, and the Nanpan River, Beipan River, and Hongshui River at the junction of Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces, to Guangdong, as well as the electric power from the pithead power plants in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, thus constructing the southern “West-to-East Power Transmission Corridor”; (2) transmitting the hydropower from the Three Gorges and the tributaries of the Jinshajiang River to the eastern China region, thus constructing the central “West-to-East Power Transmission Corridor”; and (3) transmitting the hydropower from the upper Yellow River and the pithead power plants in Shanxi and Inner Mongolia to the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan region, thus constructing the northern “West-to-East Power Transmission Corridor”.

Yuan Maozhen planned and led the vast number of employees at the Southern Power Grid Company to actively participate in the construction of the West-to-East Electricity Transmission Project.

Under Yuan Maozhen's leadership, the five major campaigns were launched one after another. The first campaign was the Tianshengqiao-Guangzhou ±500 kV DC transmission project; the second campaign was the Tianshengqiao-Guangdong No. 3 500 kV AC transmission and substation project; the third campaign was the Guizhou-Guangdong 500 kV AC double-circuit transmission and substation project; the fourth campaign was the Three Gorges-Guangdong ±500 kV DC transmission project; the fifth campaign was the Guizhou-Guangdong ±500 kV DC transmission project.

After the completion of the "Five Major Campaigns", the total transmission capacity of the Southern Power Grid Company's West-to-Guangdong Channel reached 10.88 million kilowatts. By September 2004, all grid projects of the "Five Major Campaigns" were successfully completed, 15 months ahead of schedule.

袁懋振在任期间， Southern Power Grid’s total assets increased from RMB 220.2 billion at the end of 2002 to RMB 440.4 billion at the end of 2009, showing a remarkable growth of 100%. The company’s net profit also surged from RMB 3.9 billion to a peak of RMB 12.2 billion, with an impressive growth speed.

Leading Southern Power Grid actively cooperate with Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Power Grid. In 2017, Southern Power Grid exchanged 31.5 billion kWh of electricity with Hong Kong Power Grid, and sold 1.7 billion kWh of electricity to Macao.

In 2007, Guangdong's power load hit a record high 25 times, with a maximum power shortage of 6.23 million kilowatts. Yuan Maozhen required the company to mobilize the entire network resources to support Guangdong. Western China sent the maximum power of 15.17 million kilowatts to Guangdong, a year-on-year increase of 25.4%.

在任期间，Yuan Maozhen vigorously promoted the transformation and upgrading of rural power grids, completed a county-level power grid with an investment of 22.5 billion yuan, and solved the electricity consumption problem of 30,000 people in 21 administrative villages without electricity.

By the end of 2009, the State Grid Corporation of China had put 18 key projects into operation, forming the "eight-interconnections and five-direct-current" major channel for West-to-East Power Transmission, with a transmission capacity of over 23 million kilowatts.

Thus it can be seen that Yuan Maozhen, the head of Southern Power Grid, laid a solid foundation for the company's development and set the tone for the subsequent development of Southern Power Grid in less than eight years in office.

Zhao Jianguo - Shaping the Service-Oriented Grid Enterprise

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ZHAO Jianguo was appointed Chairman of China Southern Power Grid in January 2010 until June 2016, but he had already been a vice president-level official in the company since its inception when he became an effective assistant for Yuan Maozhen.

His first challenge just after assuming office was drought relief. In early 2010, extremely severe droughts occurred again in the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. Since the areas under the administration of Southern Power Grid primarily rely on hydropower, the drought led to power supply problems that forced Zhao Jianguo to lead Southern Power Grid in making all-out efforts in drought relief and power supply, and to uniformly balance the power volume of the entire grid.

于是，赵建国组织旗下电网公司员工捐款在Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi have constructed 40 "Southern Grid Wells", 28 "Southern Grid Reservoirs", and 5 "Southern Grid Diversion Canals" to solve the long-term drinking water problem of local people. 在台风袭击广东期间，赵建国组织南方电网积极抗灾，做到了让受灾地区电力供应最快恢复。

Drought-tolerant Southern Power Grid's water pumping wells

Zhao Jianguo advocates the concept of "service-oriented" development, emphasizing the "positioning of service-type" of Southern Power Grid, and defining the "customer service capability" as the first of the five core capabilities.

Under the instruction of Zhao Jianguo, Southern Power Grid opened a green channel for service application and simplified the application for electricity use for drought relief, flood control and Asian Games venues, so as to guarantee the earliest possible electricity supply for customers.

Southern Power Grid will also gradually transform the 95598 service hotline from a "problem acceptance center" to a "problem-solving center". In response to customer questions, the 95598 service hotline is responsible for tracking relevant departments and completing a lot of coordination work in the background, so that customers only need to make a phone call to get a satisfactory answer.

赵建国在任期间，China Southern Power Grid is the first in the country to launch an energy-saving power generation dispatch mechanism, 2014年，广州建成全国规模最大的电能质量监测系统；2015年，南方电网在广东、广西、云南和贵州组建了省级电力交易中心，全网组织市场化交易电量880亿千瓦时，节约客户电费支出52亿元。

During the term of Zhao Jianguo, the profitability of Southern Power Grid also had a significant increase. In 2010, the revenue of Southern Power Grid reached 366.5 billion yuan, an increase of 17.9% month-on-month; by 2016, the operating revenue of Southern Power Grid reached 476.5 billion yuan, with an increase of 30% in 6 years. The total assets also increased from 490.8 billion yuan in 2010 to 689.1 billion yuan, representing an increase of more than 40% in 6 years.

During his tenure, the Central Inspection Team entered Southern Power Grid in March 2015, after which Southern Power Grid Deputy General Manager and Party Leadership Group member Qi Da Cai, and Deputy General Manager and Party Leadership Group member Xiao Peng both fell. He was later transferred to Huadian Group to serve as Chairman and Party Leadership Group Secretary.

Li Qingkui—Chairman with a checkered past

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Li Qingkui, secretary of the CPC Southern Power Grid Party Committee and chairman of the company from June 2016 to August 2018.

Li Qingkui

Prior to serving as the chairman of China Southern Power Grid, he worked for the China Huadian Corporation, rising through the ranks from vice president to chairman.

In June 2016, top executives of China Huadian Corporation and China Southern Power Grid Company Limited exchanged positions. Li Qingkui, then chairman of Huadian, went south to serve as the chairman of Southern Power Grid, while Zhao Jianguo, then chairman of Southern Power Grid, went north to serve as the head of Huadian.

李庆奎任职期间内，刚好遭遇工商业电价下调的时期，南方电网以市场机制实现电力资源的优化配置，通过配合政府大力实施煤电联动、输配电价改革以及电力市场化改革等多项措施， Reduced user electricity costs by 82.7 billion yuan in 2016-2017. In 2018, Southern Power Grid fully implemented the national price reduction dividend to each economic entity and each user, reducing customer electricity costs by 22.3 billion yuan throughout the year.

Southern Power stepped up its efforts to go international during Li Qingkui's tenure. 南方电网与周边国家的跨境电力贸易成为跨境电力合作中非常重要的部分。2018年，南方电网收购智利ETC项目股权；收购马来西亚埃德拉项目股权；收购卢森堡恩赛沃公司股权。这些行动激活了南方电网在海外电力市场的布局。

The Vinh Tan Thermal Power Plant Project Phase I and Nam Theun 1 Hydropower Project, invested and developed by China Southern Power Grid in 2018, have received high evaluations of Vietnamese and Laotian government and the public by setting up high-quality projects and public welfare projects, and they are recommended to be key demonstration projects for the “Belt and Road” by Chinese embassies in Vietnam and Laos.

During Mr. Li Qingkui's tenure, the operating revenue of Southern Power Grid increased from 476.5 billion yuan in 2016 to 537.3 billion yuan in 2018; and the total assets increased from 689.1 billion yuan in 2016 to 816.7 billion yuan in 2018.

Fourteen months after retirement, Li Qingkui, former chairman of Southern Power Grid, was investigated and punished. He repeatedly violated regulations by entering and leaving a private club, occupied multiple official vehicles, and used official vehicles for personal use for a long time, and used office space above the standard. He violated regulations by appointing and adjusting officials, abused his power for personal gain, and received property from others for himself and his family.

After investigation, it was found that Li Qingkui's behaviors violated the Party discipline and constituted malfeasance. According to the relevant regulations such as the "Code of Discipline of the Communist Party of China", after research carried out by the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and approval from the Central Committee of the CPC, it was decided to give Li Qingkui a two-year probation within the Party and determine his retirement benefits according to the deputy position of the department headquarters of Southern Power Grid, and confiscate his illegal and disciplinary income.

Meng Zhenping - Focus on the development of digital smart grids and UHV

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Since August 2018, he has served as the Chairman of the Board and Party Secretary of China Southern Power Grid. Meng Zhenping has previously held positions including: Deputy Director of Zou County Power Plant of Shandong Province, Deputy Director of the Operation Department of Shandong Provincial Electric Power Bureau, Deputy Chief Accountant of Shandong Provincial Electric Power Bureau, Deputy Director of the Audit Bureau of the former National Power Company, and Party Secretary and General Manager of Henan Electric Power Company. Before he came to State Grid as the Chairman of the Board, he served as General Manager of State Power Investment Corporation.

孟振平上任以来，Focus on advancing digitalization, intelligence, and ultra-high voltage construction of the Southern Power Grid. He proposed a digital grid to promote the construction of a new power system and a new energy system through digitization and green development.

Meng Zhenping pointed out that China is currently accelerating the construction of large-scale clean energy bases such as the Shage Wilderness in the northwest and the southwest, and new energy development has entered a new stage of large-scale and high-proportion. Faced with increasingly large-scale power transmission needs, UHV flexible DC transmission technology has emerged. With its significant advantages of flexible and rapid adjustment, safe and stable operation, it has gradually become an ideal choice for large-scale long-distance transmission of new energy.

Under the leadership of Meng Zhenping, in 2022, China Southern Power Grid Corporation will complete and put into operation 151 power grid projects of 35 kV and above, including soft straight back-to-back in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Fujian-Guangdong interconnection, which has significantly improved Guangdong's power supply guarantee capabilities and level of safety and stability; The third channel of Guangdong-Macao power interconnection has been put into operation, increasing the power supply capacity to Australia by 30%. The 500-kilovolt National Energy Corporation Beihai Power Plant transmission project was put into operation as scheduled to ensure the power plant's 2 million kilowatts power transmission demand and effectively relieve the pressure on power supply in peak winter.

Besides, Meng Zhenping laid particular stress on the rural power grid construction. Meng Zhenping highlighted that the rural power grid spans a large region, with long power supply lines as well as a relatively disperse load. It requires significant investment in terms of construction, upgrading, operation, and maintenance, while delivering low electricity volume. In recent years, new energies such as dispersed wind power and distributed photovoltaics have demonstrated a scaled development trend in rural areas. There is an urgent need to enhance the grid's load-carrying capacity and accelerate the construction of a modernized rural power grid.

In 2022, Southern Power Grid invested a total of 8.9 billion yuan to transform and upgrade rural power grids, helping to upgrade rural infrastructure.

In 2022, China Southern Power Grid completed the annual electricity sales of 1262.6 billion kWh, with total assets of 1145.1 billion yuan, a 13.8% increase in operating income, and a 20.9% and 20.2% increase in total profits and net profits, respectively.

During Meng Zhenping's term of office, the Meizhou and Yangjiang Pumped Storage Power Stations were put into operation ahead of schedule, setting a record for the shortest construction period of the main project.

International Energy Network (WeChat Official Account:Inencom learned that this year, the Southern Power Grid Company will carry out the "fifteenth five-year" power grid planning research, build a main power grid framework of "reasonable zoning, flexible interconnection, safe and controllable, open and mutually supportive", upgrade the infrastructure of urban power distribution networks, accelerate the reconstruction of rural power grids, promote the full application of cloud-edge integration intelligent dispatching system throughout the network, and adapt to the construction of active collaborative control system for source-network-load-storage mode, etc.

Meng Zhenping proposed at the working conference at the beginning of 2024:Go all out to ensure economic growth, maintain social stability, guarantee electricity supply, and ensure power grid safety, resolutely prevent power curtailment; stick to the safety bottom line, eliminate major production safety responsibility accidents; vigorously improve service quality, fully complete the annual targeted tasks of the action plan to deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises, actively undertake national and provincial scientific and technological projects, and significantly improve the ranking of global brands.

Recently, National Grid's chairman had just been replaced by Zhang Zhigang, because the original chairman of National Grid, Xin Bao'an, was over the age limit of central enterprise executives (63 years old) and Meng Zhenping is already 62 this year. This year may be a critical time for him to lead Southern Power Grid to create brilliance again. Meng Zhenping has moved Southern Power Grid up in the world's top 500 companies from 110th in 2018 to 89th in 2023, and Southern Power Grid's vision of becoming a world-class enterprise with global competitiveness is being realized step by step!

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