Power Sector as the Critical Infrastructure in Guangdong Province, China

The important critical infrastructure's disruptions are a drag on economies, in which the power sector has caused the greatest economic loss. The data show that the loss of utilization due to power, water supply and transportation interruption is as high as 151 billion dollars each year. At present, China has built six cross-regional power grids and three independent provincial power grids, forming a nationwide power network system (NDRCC). Since the northwestern region of China is mostly plateaus, and the southwest and central-eastern regions are mostly hills and mountainous areas. These places have complex topography, geomorphology, and meteorological conditions. As the main carrier of the power network, overhead transmission lines inevitably cross these plateaus, hills, and mountains. China’s loss on power sector is quite high, especially in the coastal areas, and it is attributed to typhoon damages of the power transmission lines. This chapter analyzes the risk of power transmission line of Sanxiang Town in Zhongshan City, which is located in Guangdong Province, China. Through detailed field investigations, questionnaires surveys, and interviews of the power corporations’ staff and managers, three key issues are observed: maintenance of transmission lines, disaster prevention measures for power transmission lines, and transmission line design. Specific suggestions are provided to improve the resilience of transmission lines and making the power sector more resilient.