China Southern Power Grid Issues 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

Guangzhou - China Southern Power Grid has released its detailed 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the company’s 10th consecutive CSR report.

Focusing on CSG’s dedicated efforts on maintaining safe and reliable power supplies, environmental protection, operating efficiency and social harmony over the past year, the report also categorizes China Southern Power Grid’s best practices and achievements in actively managing political, economic and social responsibilities.

During Year 2016, facing severe external situation, as well as challenging tasks of reform and development, CSG senior management and staff adhered to the concept of “innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development” to effectively promote reform in the nation’s electric power system, state-owned enterprises and supply side structure”.

Overcoming these and other time sensitive challenges empowered China Southern Power Grid’s professional senior management team to actively implement the Belt and Road Initiative and green energy strategies while assisting targeted poverty relief, ensuring safe and reliable power supplies and vigorously championing economic development.

All these efforts highlight CSG’s corporate mantra - “best services for the people” and showed that the brand image of “CSG Lights Up Every Household in Southern China” enjoyed popular support.

Reduce SAIDI in Central Urban Areas

In Year 2016, power sales of CSG reached 829.7 billion kWh, an increase of 6.1% year-on-year. For 10 consecutive years, CSG obtained Class A in SASAC operating performance assessment.

The company also won an Outstanding Enterprise Award for the fourth consecutive year.

Also during Year 2016, CSG was ranked the 95th among the Fortune Global 500, which was the first time that CSG entered the Top 100 listing.

The CSR Report shows that in terms of power supply, CSG continued to reduce SAIDI in central urban areas; decreasing from 4.98 hours in Year 2015 to 4.6 hours in Year 2016.

During the past year, CSG invested RMB 77.5 trillion in grid construction, putting 9,619 kilometers of ≥110kV power transmission lines and 45.29 million KVA of ≥110kV transformation capacities into production.

China Southern Power Grid’s third-party customer satisfaction also continued to rise. In local public service evaluations, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou Power Grid Company and Guangzhou and Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau Co., Ltd. ranked first.

CSG also recorded success in its technological innovations; implementing 11 national major science and technology projects and earned one China Electric Power Technology Invention Award; 14 China Electric Power Science and Technology Progress Awards and 117 National Electric Power Staff Awards.

All of these were the best results in the company’s history. CSG currently has a total of 8,013 patents.

In terms of environmental protection, CSG unswervingly followed the path of green, low-carbon, and recyclable development to promote the transformation of its energy structure - moving from a fossil energy-oriented platform to a clean energy-oriented platform.

In 2016, the generating capacity of non-fossil energy, for the first time, accounted for more than half of the total generating capacity, reaching 50.7%, substantially higher than national average of 22.3%. The comprehensive line loss per unit of the whole power grid was 6.38%, a decrease of 0.34% year-on-year. The standard coal consumption of energy-saving generation dispatch reduced by 11.17 million tons, which helped customers save 1 billion kWh of electricity.

The Belt and Road: Committed to Connectivity

CSG has been conscientiously implementing the Belt and Road Initiative. In response to “peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit” proposed by President Xi Jinping, CSG has made full use of its unique geographic advantages of adjoining Hong Kong, Macao, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, actively participating in international power cooperation to strengthen connectivity with surrounding power grids.

For example: In October, 2016, during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Cambodia, witnessed by President Xi and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, CSG and the Royal Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Investment and Development of the National Power Grid of Cambodia.

The signing of the Memorandum signified a substantive step forward of CSG’s participation in Cambodia’s power industry.

Also in 2016, CSG exported more than 1.47 TWh of electric power to Vietnam, 95.66 GWh to Laos, and 165 GWh to Myanmar. CSG’s cross-border power trade with China’s neighboring countries has alleviated power shortages throughout Vietnam, Laos and Northern Myanmar while supporting substantial local socio-economic development.

Xing Kang, Deputy Manager of Nam Tha Power Company in Laos, said, “All power in Nam Tha is supplied and transmitted by China. China’s cross-border power transmission allows 150,000 people in Nam Tha to use electricity”.

CSG has been resolutely committed to the Belt and Road Initiative. During the process of carrying out various cooperation projects, CSG gave specific attention to environmental protection, ensuring high quality and created exceptional projects to serve local social and economic development.

Projects invested and constructed by China Southern Power Gird include:

•       The Nam Tha 1 Hydropower Project in Laos;

•       Vinh TanⅠ Coal-Fired Power Plant BOT Project in Vietnam;

•       Xiaozhonghe Hydropower Station in Vietnam and

•       230 kV Power Grid EPC Project in Northern Laos

All the projects are regarded as excellent projects, benchmark projects and popular projects by the respective host governments.

These projects represent China’s advanced power manufacturing, construction and management level, and were highly praised by senior leaders of both the Vietnamese Government and Laotian Government as well as all sectors of society.

People-to-people bonds comprise the social foundation of the Belt and Road Initiative. CSG has and will continue to respect local laws, religious cultures and customs and continually strives to realize the localization of operation and management.

The company actively hired local staff to participate in project construction and immigration project management, traveled into local villages to launch a series of charitable and public benefit activities such as donating to charities for children in mountainous areas, and helped improve local human and social environment.

In order to further expand people-to-people exchanges with neighboring countries, CSG also made a program to train 110 international students in China for Laos and other four countries from Year 2016 to Year 2025.

The program, aimed at transforming power transmission from “blood transfusion” to “hematopoiesis”, will train technical personnel for these five countries.

Targeted Poverty Relief

Since the 18th CPC National Congress and in accordance with the policy of the Central Government to assist in poverty alleviation, CSG has been taking political, organizational, resource and personnel advantages as a large state-owned key enterprise to carry out poverty relief with electric power based on main business and to promote industry poverty alleviation based on the actual situations of poverty-stricken areas in China.

The company upgraded rural power grids, improved power supply services, assisted the development of characteristic industries, conducted education poverty alleviation, and constructed infrastructure and social security in these areas.

CSG pays special attention to poverty-stricken villages that plan to eliminate poverty within a two-year period, so as to help the five provinces in Southern China to achieve these important goals.

In Year 2016, taking full advantages of power industry, CGS actively took its social responsibilities as a central enterprise as the company supplied power for:

•        Sixty six poverty-stricken natural villages;

•        Built 90 power supply projects for motor-pumped wells;

•        Invested in 892 projects on relocation and eco-migration;

•        Built 1,086 power supply facilities on relocation spots, and

•        Reduced RMB 143 million of electricity bill for 2.21 million low-income families and families enjoying the five guarantees.

It is reported that during the 13th Five-Year Plan, CSG plans to invest no less than RMB 65.3 billion in upgrading rural power grids in poverty-stricken areas and resolving the low voltage of power supplies, inadequate power supplies and other problems facing poverty-stricken areas, so as to fully implement the work of “benefiting people with electricity” and industrial key poverty alleviation.

In order to win the battle of casting off poverty in the electricity industry, during Year 2016, CSG organized provincial, municipal and county-level power supply enterprises and administrations to conduct a wide-ranging investigation on power conditions and demanded, within the scopes of power supply of these enterprises and administrations, to substantially elevate electrical production to 17,375 poverty-stricken villages, 3.92 million poverty-stricken families and 14.14 million people.

CSG senior managers formulated a special program to upgrade the rural power grid in poverty-stricken areas, which systematically deploys tasks on poverty alleviation. The plan will fulfill the principle of “poverty alleviation, power first”, and put into play the basic role of electricity on economic and social development.

While working on poverty alleviation, CSG also attached great importance to targeted poverty relief.

Taking the building of targeted poverty relief demonstration villages as the key work, CSG accurately implemented its policy to help poverty-stricken areas.

From June, 2016 onward, in accordance with 12 indicators, CSG began to build 12 targeted poverty-relief demonstration villages in five provinces.

At present, phased achievements have been made such as with the assistance of the Guizhou Power Grid Company, green organic red rice in Yangfang Village and Taijiang County began to be sold on e-commerce platforms, on which there were more than 400 orders.

Some of the rice was even sold to foreign countries.

The Yunnan Power Grid Company and Weixi County (Diqing State, Yunnan Province) Government jointly established the “Weixi County Featured Agriculture Poverty Alleviation and Development Company”, which adopts the operation mode of “farmer + cooperative + company” to solve the challenges of agricultural products purchase and sales.

This new company’s revenue reached more than RMB600,000 in the first two months, … clearly a promising development prospect.

CSG senior management also attaches great importance to the selection and training of cadres for poverty-relief.

In Year 2016, CSG sent 428 “poverty alleviation” cadres to poverty-stricken areas, among which there are impressive Party cadres living and working in local villages.

Ms. Long Mei is a poverty alleviation cadre in Yongmo Village, Guangxi Province. After the end of her term, villagers of Yongmo Village all signed a petition to retain Ms. Long, requesting her to work for one more term.

Without hesitation, she stayed in the village.

Mr. Luo Wei is a poverty alleviation cadre in Shuixiu Village, Guiping City, Guangxi Province. He practiced “poverty alleviation declaration” as he gave his life to the cause, clutching files on poverty alleviation as he passed away at his workplace.

Mr. Yang Sijan, the poverty alleviation cadre of Yangfang Village, Taijiang City, Guizhou Province, was praised by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the CPC because he had produced exceptional efforts and achieved remarkable results in the introduction of fine crop varieties and agricultural products sales.

After the release of the CRS report, CSG launched the “5th Social Responsibility Week” activity.

Taking “best services for the people; spreading love openly and transparently” as its theme, the activity invited governmental departments, mainstream social responsibility research institutions, representatives of central enterprises and others to form an investigation group for the in-depth understanding and site instruction of the company’s social responsibility management and practice.

From May 23-26, the five provincial corporations, Guangzhou and Shenzhen Power Supply Bureaus held their own “Social Responsibility Day” activities.