China's State Grid launches Sichuan-Jiangxi UHV power line

[BEIJING] China's top grid firm State Grid has launched a 24.4 billion yuan (S$5.11 billion) ultra-high voltage (UHV) electricity transmission line connecting western Chinese province Sichuan and central province Jiangxi.

Totalling 1,696 kms (1,054 miles), the UHV will also go through Yunnan, Guizhou and Hunan provinces before reaching Jiangxi, helping transport the electricity generated from hydropower stations in the western region to central China, the company said in a statement on Monday.

"Power demand is robust in the central region where the economy is more developed. But due to limited primary energy and land resources, power supply pressure in the region is huge," the State Grid said in the statement.

As of end-2020, Jiangxi had total power generation capacity of 44.01 GW, of which 55.8 per cent came from thermal power plants.

The company expects Jiangxi to see power load reaching 43 GW during 2021-2025 and to experience a power crunch in peak hours.

The construction of the UHV transmission line is expected to help the province meet power consumption growth and ensure power security.

State Grid has constructed 26 UHV power lines across China and plans to build at least seven new lines over the next five years to better connect the country's far western regions where solar, wind and hydropower plants are mainly located, to China's big cities.

REUTERS