Increasing power capacity highlights rural development in village in C China's Henan

Xichangshui village in Changshui Town, Luoning Country, Henan Province has a long history. Over the past decade, with the implementation of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization strategies, a historic transformation in the production and living conditions has been realized here. Rural industries have flourished, with the village’s annual electricity consumption increasing from 20,000 kilowatt-hours to 1.4 million kilowatt-hours.

Liang Xiaodong is an employee of the Changshui Power Supply Branch of the State Grid Luoyang Electric Power Supply Company. Since 2009, he has been the customer service manager for Xichangshui village. On January 8, he and a new colleague, Jia Yonghui, went to the Luoshuyuan community to install charging meters for local villager Zhao Zhiyuan. As they approached Zhao Zhiyuan's home, they saw rows of seven-story Western-style houses instead of the typical rural courtyards commonly seen in the western part of Henan Province.

An aerial view of Xichangshui village. (Photo/Guo Chunbo)

"When I first started working, this area was still wasteland. Later, due to the advantageous location of Xichangshui village, residents on the mountain gradually moved to the new village, and this place turned into a large-scale community. At that time, household appliances began to get popular in rural areas. Refrigerators, washing machines, induction cookers, air conditioners, and other appliances gradually became standard household devices. For households with better conditions, the power consumption could reach tens of thousands of watts," Liang recalled.

As Liang recalls, the period from 2013 to 2018 was the busiest time for him. During that period, the village continuously increased its infrastructure construction, built roads, established communities, and improved the education and healthcare systems. The power supply company started to renovate the entire village's power grid, build transformers and lay out power lines, and within five years, 20 new 400-kilovolt-ampere transformers had been installed in Xichangshui village alone. "Every household now lives in tall buildings, has access to tap water, and uses electric rice cookers and electric water heaters. The newly built street lights in the village are bright, just like everyone's smiles," Liang said with a smile.

After on-site inspections in Zhao Zhiyuan’s garage, Liang completed the application process for electricity expansion on his mobile phone and began to put in place safety measures and install meters. Half an hour later, electricity was successfully supplied.

Photo shows new well-equipped communities for villagers. (Photo/Du Mingrui)

While Liang was explaining how to take precautions for electricity usage, Zhao Zhiyuan demonstrated his smart home: "Xiao Ai, turn on the living room air conditioner." On hearing the command, the air conditioner next to the sofa slowly opened its fan blades and blew out warm air. There are more than 10 sets of smart home devices such as internet TVs, smart speakers, smart air conditioners, and smart ceiling lights in his home. Liang said, "In the past, a household was envied if it consumed tens of thousands of watts of electricity. Nowadays, every household here has a total power consumption of over 10,000 watts. They all have stable power supply."

Leaving the community, Liang and Jia went to the Entrepreneurship Park for Returned Scholars in the countryside to carry out electricity visits. There are 11 companies here with an annual electricity consumption exceeding 500,000 kilowatt-hours. Zhenghao pencil factory is a labor-intensive enterprise. The first phase of the project covers an area of 30 mu, with a factory building of 10,000 square meters. It has attracted more than 900 laborers from surrounding areas, and over 80 percent of its products are exported overseas. "The economy is continuously improving, and our sales volume is also considerable, especially for foreign orders. Thanks to an adequate power supply, we have started the second and third phases of expansion. The second phase has already been completed, and we expect the production volume to double this year. We are currently recruiting workers," said Wang Shouguo, the factory’s general manager.

A large number of enterprises have settled in Xichangshui village, attracting around 7,000 people from six surrounding towns to work and live here, including the native residents. "I'm from Lianshan. In 2016, I followed the villagers and bought a house here. I was attracted by the schools and a hospital here. Now I can work near my home. I earn over 2,000 yuan per month at the pencil factory. I feel that life is getting better and better," said Zhao Jiaojiao, a villager from Lianshan who works at the factory.

Villagers working at the collective clothing factory in Xichangshui village rush to make clothes. (Photo/Li Zhibin)

Xichangshui village has seen its transformer capacity increase from 2,400 kilovolt-amperes 10 years ago to 20 megavolt-amperes. The village’s main road leads directly to the county seat in about 15 minutes, and it takes less than an hour to reach the city center. There are 35 Western-style residential buildings in the North and South Luoshuyuan communities, with a total area of 2,000 square meters for supermarkets. The village boasts an education system from kindergarten to high school, as well as a hospital. All this development has made it a "county-level sub-center."

"Our work plan for this year is to complete the business expansion supporting projects of the Luoshu Cultural Industry Park, Luoning County Museum, public charging stations, and the new hospital area of Changshui Town Hospital," Liang said.