Chapter 28: Guaranteed to Have Power Outages as Rare as Possible

1996 was actually the year the domestic navy's strategic adjustment began.

Due to the comprehensive inferiority of naval power, the standoff that lasted from last year until early this year, right before Tang Wen transmigrated, ended in failure.

In this Strait crisis, the navy's weak forces were exposed without a doubt:

Let alone aircraft carriers, there weren't even a few destroyers.

The fleet's star was the newly launched 052 basic-type missile destroyer, with a displacement of 4,800 tons. Many critical subsystems were imported, and the overall combat capability was very limited.

Below that were the 051-type destroyers, which were outdated from birth, with a displacement of 3,000 tons. They were the navy's first domestically produced destroyers and had almost no decent combat capability before undergoing modernization.

These two types of destroyers added up to only four, plus a few 053-type frigates of over a thousand tons.

With just these few broken ships, they could only be deployed for major occasions; normally, patrol duties were carried out by small craft of a few hundred tons, such as 021 missile boats and 037 submarine hunters.

To summarize the current navy in one sentence:

You can't say there isn't one, but you can only say there is one.

Compared to the opponent, all their assets weren't enough to withstand a single salvo from a Ticonderoga-class missile cruiser.

Consequently, the country began to publicly practice hiding one's capabilities while actually starting to vigorously develop the navy.

The humiliated navy would immediately go to the northern neighbor's house, tow away the two 956-type destroyers left by the big brother, and then place orders for two more; these were the "Four Great Golden Kings" of the turn of the century—the Sovremenny-class missile destroyers.

It was only after this that a patriotic businessman managed to get the Varyag, which was mostly completed, from the Black Sea Shipyard, and finally continued its construction as CV16, the first aircraft carrier.

Invisible projects also included the sequential launch of nuclear submarines, comprehensive supply ships, amphibious landing ships, and others.

It can be said that because of a war that never broke out, shame led to courage, ultimately realizing a future navy that surpassed and led the opponent.

But development is a process; it will still take 15 years from now before the "Varyag" is recommissioned.

During this period, the navy had no actual control over many islands in the South China Sea, including the Pratas Islands.

If fishermen went fishing near there, they would be chased by patrol boats from the water police on the other side.

That is why Old Man Wang advised Tang Wen not to go, because there really was a risk!

Tang Wen only had a yacht; how could he possibly clash head-on?

"Got it? If you're lucky, they'll detain you and throw you in jail; if you're unlucky, they'll shoot. There's no reasoning with them!"

Old Man Wang added another sentence, making Tang Wen's face look even worse.

Fortunately, there were still a few days left. If Tang Yi could find a shipwreck that was closer and safer, there would be no need to take risks; otherwise, this salvage trip still carried considerable danger.

After thanking Old Man Wang, Tang Wen returned to the shipyard to deliver this bad news, but saw two pickup trucks parked at the factory gate.

The writing on the two pickup trucks was different; one said "Dawan Power," and the other said "Post and Telecommunications."

Tang Wen went up to ask their purpose and learned that both had seen the application submitted by Gaijin Shipyard.

The Post and Telecommunications Bureau came to pull telephone lines, and the Power Bureau came to inspect in advance how to set up power lines; both had been blocked outside the factory.

Tang Wen hurriedly ordered them to be let in, and the Post and Telecommunications Bureau personnel went straight inside.

Installing telephone lines was simple because the village already had them; pulling them over was no trouble.

Anyway, Gaijin Shipyard didn't lack this bit of money; it was just a matter of erecting two poles.

The Power Bureau was different; as soon as a few people entered the shipyard, they went straight to the self-contained thermal power room, shouting in disbelief.

The leading master directly asked:

"Generating thermal power privately is illegal. This equipment requires qualifications; you are acting recklessly!

Shouldn't you have declared and applied for power lines before the shipyard construction began? Why drag it out until now?

Moreover, can your self-connected thermal power guarantee stable electricity?"

Tang Wen automatically ignored the first two questions and answered directly:

"This system of ours is backup power. In the future, we will mainly rely on the power grid for supply; this generator set is very expensive."

"I've never heard of anyone having such a large backup unit."

The electrician master muttered, then looked around the shipyard and said:

"Your location is too remote. We must connect three-phase power from the main transformer station. We only have 10KVA (kilovolt-ampere) transformers; that should be enough, right?"

Tang Wen didn't even need to calculate; he just shook his head vigorously.

10KVA barely suffices for a small factory, but the future shipyard will definitely upgrade. Just think of the power consumption of those heavy equipment units weighing tens or even hundreds of tons; 10KVA is far too small.

"Do you have a 100-kilovolt-ampere one? I want to leave some margin for upgrades."

"No. At least our branch bureau doesn't have one that big; there aren't even a few in the city."

The electrician shook his head decisively and explained to Tang Wen:

"Our branch bureau only has up to 40KVA, and there are two types: domestic and imported. Choosing the larger one costs extra. The 10KVA domestic one is the cheapest, and the 40KVA imported Siemens is the most expensive.

Besides, if it's too big, it's very hard to transport it over. Strange, how did you transport the equipment here with roads this bad?"

"This... by waterway; it was shipped by boat."

To someone slightly professional, a shipyard appearing out of thin air was simply full of bugs; Tang Wen could only brush it off.

As for choosing the transformer, there was nothing to discuss; the shipyard deserved the best.

"I want your most expensive 40KV Siemens. Use the highest quality materials for the wires too; price is no issue."

The old master was immediately delighted. Although everyone knew imported was better, the price was simply too high; he had thought there was no hope for that Siemens transformer.

This boss, although young, certainly has good taste!

"Boss Tang, rest assured, our Power Bureau will prioritize guaranteeing your power needs. However, when there are production tasks, it's best to give us a call; we will provide all-day power assurance."

Tang Wen was just about to nod when he suddenly felt something was off.

"Wait, does that mean you can't guarantee all-day power during normal times?"

"..."

The originally harmonious atmosphere was instantly broken, falling into an awkward silence.

The old master quickly reacted and tried to make amends by saying:

"Rest assured, a power outage is unlikely; as long as you generally operate below 50% of rated capacity, there won't be a problem. There are no major enterprises below the town, so your power usage would affect the entire town's dispatch."

Tang Wen was even more shocked: "What do you mean 'unlikely'? Can't industrial power guarantee no outages either?"

"Well... everything has a probability."

The old master felt even more guilty; in reality, power outages at this time were truly a common occurrence.

Rural power usage now is even time-limited, supplying electricity for a few hours before bedtime, and it is exorbitantly expensive, reaching as high as two yuan per kilowatt-hour!

Two yuan in the 90s! More expensive than thirty years later!

However, industrial power is different after all; if equipment stops, the loss could easily be thousands or even tens of thousands, so the Power Bureau dares not take it lightly.

This is also due to the limitations of the era; the State Grid wasn't established until 2002. Now, the level of the Power Bureau in various places depends purely on the local economy and the distance to the power plant; for a small place like Goose City, they are truly powerless.

Looking at it this way... it seems silver coins generating electricity would be even better!