BEIJING, Aug. 12 -- At the end of July, as a worker from the Jimo branch of State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company pushed the switch, the 0.25-square-kilometers Changmenyan Island, lying marginally deep in China’s Yellow Sea, was eventually connected to the power grid, which ended its 58-year-long history of no continuous electricity and improved greatly the living conditions of the stationed troops.
“The using of electricity no longer has to depend on the weather,” exclaimed Zhang Li, the oldest soldier station on the island. When he first came to Changmenyan in 2008, the troops stationed on the island used a diesel generator to produce electricity.
To improve the situation, military and local experts had come to the island several times in the following years and installed the new-model fluoride-free solar power generator considering the high illumination intensity and long illumination time on the island.
However, though the solar panels could produce enough electricity for cooking, lighting, and office use, and the generator could help produce electricity on cloudy days, there was still severe power shortage at times of rainstorms, typhoons and other adverse weather conditions. Notably, the stationed troops were then equipped with new weapons and equipment during the military reform, which had dramatically increased power demand. As a result, electricity once again became a major problem. But that’s all in the past now.
It’s said that the power supply project for Changmenyan Island was kicked off in April 2018. The military and local authorities allocated special fund for laying the undersea power cables and building a 5G base station on the island.