A multi-billion dollar project to connect the power grid in Tibet to the one in the rest of China will be completed by 2012, ensuring a steady supply of electricity to the plateau region.

The 16.2 billion yuan ($2.46 billion) project includes 900 kilometers of power lines in an area at an average elevation of 4,000 meters above sea level.

Engineers have called it one of the most sophisticated power projects in the world.

The power lines will stretch over 1,000 km from Lhasa in Tibet to Xining City, capital of neighboring Qinghai Province.

Sharing power resources with the rest of the country will ease Tibet's power shortages during the winter while generating income for the region in the summer, said Wen Weibing, deputy head of the Qinghai-Tibet Power Grid Linkage Project.

Annual electricity consumption in Tibet is about 1.6 billion kilowatt-hours. The power is mainly generated with hydro-electric power plants.

The power line is expected to transmit 4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to Tibet between 2013 and 2015, ensuring smooth power supply to Tibetan industry.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 12010)