State Grid Shaanxi Electronic Power Company: Jointly promoting the sustainability of coalmine gob area

 
Company profile
 
State Grid Shaanxi Electronic Power Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of State Grid Corporation of China, an independent legal entity of power construction, transmission and sale in Shaanxi Province and public service enterprise for the provincial gird planning, construction and operation. It shoulders the responsibility to provide safe and realizable power supply for the economic development and urban and rural power customers in Shaanxi, covering 11 prefecture-level powe supply units and 11 comprehensive units. The electricity sales in 2016 is 97.9 TWh. By the end of 2016, the total assets is 57.284 billion yuan with 34,647 employees, 33.8 GWh installed capacity and 7.71 GWh outside transmission capacity. The maximum load of the grid is21.1 GWh with 90.686 GWh power transmission capacity.
 
Challenges
 
Shenmu county, Yulin city, in the north of Shaanxi province, is the biggest coal-rich county in China. It is located in the hinterland of Dongsheng coal field, near to Shenmu and Fugu county, with a coal storage area of 4500 square kilometers. Due to years' of large-scale exploitation, there has been a coalmine gob area of 324 square kilometers. The sinking of coalmine gob area has aroused a series of problems, including losses of coal mine enterprises and water loss and soil erosion, especially, the poor reliability of power supply and the lack of safe electric power environment, which severely influence the sustainable development of local areas. As many stakeholders were working independently in the past, the governance effects were poor.
 
Solutions
 
Making full use of its advantages in resources, State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company promotes the formation of multi-party cooperation in a long-term governance mechanism through consultations with many parties. It uses innovative work mode to advance safe electric environment governance in coalmine gob areas. Meanwhile, the company helps to reduce unnecessary losses of coal mine enterprises and pays great attention to environmental protection to improve local sustainable development capability comprehensively.
 
Promoting the establishment of a special working group
 
State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company fully plays its role as power supply company hub and has urged the government to take the lead to establish a special working group for safe electric environment governance of coalmine gob areas in Shenmu county. The people’s government of the county is the team leader, and other member units include the Administration of Work Safety, Coal Bureau, Bureau of Land and Resources, Power supply company of Shenmu county Yulin city, coalmine enterprises like Yinwan coal mine, relevant villages and counties like Dianta, power consumption enterprises like Xinchen coal electricity chemical company, and the county TV station. The management responsibility of each party is clearly defined so as to promote the governance of safe electric environment in coalmine gob areas jointly.
 
The Administration of Work Safety is responsible for the supervision and management of coalmine safety production, as well as the organization and instruction of safety production publicity, education and personnel training. The Coal Bureau is responsible for the supervision and management of coalmine safety production and the governance of coalmine gob areas. The Bureau of Land and Resources do geological examinations in areas of power transmission lines. Power supply companies are in charge of the maintenance of power transmission lines and they coordinate all parties to engage with the governance of safety electric environment in coalmine gob areas. Coalmine enterprises like Yinwan coal mine make innovations in technology to make coal exploitation more scientific and reasonable and cooperate with power supply enterprises to reinforce the governance of coalmine gob areas. The related villages and counties including Dianta establish a power transmission line protection team composed of the mass to carry out publicity and to improve people's awareness of protecting power facilities. Power consumption companies including Xinchen coal electricity chemical company collaborate with power supply enterprises to maintain special line routes. Media like the county TV station enhance positive appeal and publicity of coalmine gob area governance and help to publicize power facility protection.
 
Establishing a real-time information monitoring platform to share and communicate information timely
 
When power supply companies find that the sinking of coalmine gob area threatens the safe operation of power facilities, they will immediately report it to relevant government departments and cooperate with the Administration of Work Safety and the Coal Bureau to deal with it. Once a newly formed coalmine gob area is identified, the Bureau of Land and Resources will inform all parties timely so that power supply companies can make response at first time. It also provides instructions on safe use of power to power consumption companies.
 
The company uses the wisdom of the mass and promotes multi-party cooperation and government and enterprise cooperation to advance coalmine gob area governance. Based on the Comprehensive Local Coalmine Gob Area Governance Plan of Shenmu County, State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company works with coalmine enterprises and government departments like the Administration of Work Safety to promote the governance of coalmine gob area and to popularize the patented tower research and foundation consolidation corrective technology. It maintains 80 special line routes with power consumption companies like coal electricity chemical company jointly, and works with the government to promote the coalmine gob area governance method of high comprehensive benefits, which combines open-air dig and backfill and reclamation and greening together.
 
The coalmine enterprises work together to improve the effectiveness of governance. The collaboration scheme with coalmine enterprises was perfected. Power transmission routes were built in the previously formed coalmine gob areas. And tower foundation consolidation corrective governance was conducted by coal mines before the exploitation. Coal mines were built in the previously formed coalmine gob areas. State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company appointed about 150 people and visited 23 coal mines to know the situation well and to make improving plans. It also consolidated the tower foundation for many times before the exploitation of coalmines. When potential hazards are identified during the special patrol, power supply companies will send out hazard rectification notice timely to urge coal mines to consolidate tower foundation. Once there is a sudden sinking of coalmine gob area, temporary power transmission lines are connected immediately.
 
Private enterprises work together to play the role of transmission line protector. Local residents were mobilized widely. 130 people from 9 villages and towns were selected to sign the mass transmission line protector agreement. Communication mechanisms of telephone and we-chat were perfected. In 2016, 16 coalmine gob hazards were discovered and reported to power supply companies timely by the mass transmission line protector, thus forming a good atmosphere of all protecting the power transmission lines.
 
Carrying out electrical safety training and publicity
 
Making full use of its advantages of training center, State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company provides classified training for different groups to improve their ability of using electricity safely. Working with the Administration of Work Safety, the company launched 4 safety trainings to about 120 relevant working staff. Besides, it has also provided safety skills improvement and technical practices for around 450 people from key coalmine levels, workshops, teams and classes.
 
Taking advantage of the power of media, the company handed out about 800 pamphlets and carried out electricity publicity of various forms for villages around the coalmine gob areas and enterprises. It also popularized the concept of electrical safety in coalmine gob areas actively to improve the safety awareness of the public.
 
Achievements
 
Social benefits
 
Nearly 300 jobs were created during the governance of coalmine gob area, which increased the income of local people and improved the local GDP by 0.3 percentage. The unnecessary losses of coal enterprises caused by emergent ecological issues were reduced. The production scale of power consumption companies was expanded owing to the steady supply of power, bringing an indirect income of over 30 million yuan. The power for agricultural irrigation use was well guaranteed. As a result, the annual average income per household increased by 1200 yuan compared with the year earlier.
 
Through the scientific planning and governance of soil in the coalmine gob area, a green area of 9627 mu was reclaimed and the arable land increased by 600 hectares, which effectively achieved the environment governance goals of dust prevention and sand fixation, noise insulation and reduction, and prevention and control of water and soil erosion, thus providing local residents a good living space.
 
Economic benefits
 
In 2016, State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company completed the governance of 145 transmission towers over the coalmine gob area. The identification ratio and governance ratio of potential power facility safety hazards were improved by 57% and 63% respectively. There was no power failure caused by the sinking of coalmine gob area in the improving area. The reliability of power supply was significantly improved.
 
Prospect
 
State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company will further increase the intensity of technical innovation and research, and try to blend in new technologies, like big data and cloud computing,  to further integrate advantage resources of various stakeholders, and dig economic, social and environmental values, aiming to provide reference and experience in power supply environmental governance and local sustainable development of coalmine gob area in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and other provinces and even the whole country.