Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Bureau 1 Co. Ltd says it has begun building overhead transmission lines in Guinea-Bissau to improve the electricity distribution system in the capital, Bissau.

Sinohydro is building a 30 kV network of overhead and underground power lines for the city, the company says in a written statement issued last week.

The company recently finished putting up 10 kV medium-voltage lines and 0.4 kV low-voltage lines there, according to its statement.

In another statement, which it issued on Monday, Sinohydro says excavation work needed for laying 50 km of medium-voltage and low-voltage lines has begun, and should be finished by the middle of July.

The company has engaged consulting firm Ingénierie & Réalisations Africaines of neighbouring Guinea to supervise the project in Guinea-Bissau, according to the second Sinohydro statement.