STATE Grid Corp. of China, one of China’s biggest State firms, said it has appointed its president Shu Yinbiao to replace long-time chairman Liu Zhenya, amid an industry-wide reshuffle aimed at deregulating China’s power sector.

    The departure of Liu, 64, a prominent political figure dubbed the “father of China’s ultra-high voltage power lines,” comes as the firm’s dominant position in power transmission is under scrutiny as the government looks to boost competition.

    China rolled out a second round of market reforms in the power sector last year as part of efforts to expand power trading and cut electricity costs. It has introduced pilot programs allowing consumers to reach direct purchase agreements with power suppliers.

    State Grid, which has an estimated value of 3 trillion yuan (US$460 billion), runs China’s power grids in 26 provinces and regions, covering 88 percent of the nation’s territory and employing nearly 2 million people.

    The company has been lobbying heavily for the construction of ultra-high voltage cross-country transmission lines that will link major hydropower and coal power bases in the far southwest and northwest with big power consuming regions in the east.

    There are already 17 ultra-high voltage lines in operation or under construction.

    Liu had recently been calling for an interconnected global power grid that would help promote State Grid technology worldwide.

    He said earlier this year the company was working with other international power providers to design and facilitate a pan-Asian grid by around 2030, which would then be linked to Europe and other parts of the world by 2050.

    The appointment of Shu was announced in a post on State Grid’s official microblog late Monday.(SD-Agencies)