(Xinhua is the Official Press Agency of the People's Republic of China)

BEIJING (Oct. 31) XINHUA - Germany's Siemens AG has launched a drive to win a large slice of a major expansion program in China's power generating industry.

Experts have predicted that China will only be able to meet 80 per cent of its equipment needs from domestic sources, paving the way for the other 20 percent to come from overseas companies.

Siemens, already well established in China, has announced it aims to win 20 percent of the market for the supply of generating equipment for power plants in China from overseas companies.

The move will help Siemens' Power Generation Group (KWU), to win one billion Deutsche Marks in sales in China by the turn of the century.

Dietrich Stahl, vice president of Siemens China, gave details about Siemens/KWU's great interest in developing China's power market at a news conference in Beijing.

Shortage of power supplies has restricted economic development for many countries in Asia, while rapid economic growth in China has led to high demand for power. This also indicates that China has a great potential for power development, noted Stahl.

China's total installed capacity is expected to rise from the current 200 GW to 300 GW by the year 2000, with an annual increase during the 1996-2000 period of up to 18,000 megawatts.

And a majority of the capacity growth will be met by domestic equipment, leaving 15 percent to 20 percent of the country's power plant equipment market for overseas suppliers.

With extensive coal reserves, China will give priority to the construction of coal-fueled power plants, encouraging Siemens/KWU to increase investments in steam power plants.

So far, Siemens/KWU has been involved in the construction of China's five coal-fueled power plants, providing a total capacity of 5,000 megawatts of generating units. Among them, the Rizhao Power Plant in east China's Shandong Province and Hangfeng Power Plant in north China's Hebei Province are being constructed by means of BOT, according to Stahl.

Along with environment protection measures, and further utilization of natural gas and oil, China will have a growing equipment market for its increasing gas turbine and combined-cycle power plants, which are primarily located in southern regions in China.

Siemens/KWU will help expand Guangzhou Pumped-Storage Power Plant, China's largest of its kind, in south Guangdong Province, making it one of the largest in the world, he said.

In addition, Siemens/KWU will invest 100 million US dollars to join Dongfang Electric Corporation in Southwest China's Sichuan Province in the setting up of joint ventures, to construct power plants and make turbines and generators, according to Stahl.

It will also help upgrade 15 turbogenerators in the 200 megawatt class at various power plants in northeast China, the press conference was told.