China launches longest EHV power line

Beijing

CHINA has launched its longest extra-high voltage (EHV) power transmission line, connecting the far western region of Xinjiang and the eastern province of Anhui, state-backed Xinhua News reported on Tuesday.

The project aims to help meet increasing power demand in industrialised eastern regions and reduce the amount of wasted electricity in the west. As part of Beijing's anti-pollution campaign, new coal-fired power utilities have been banned in the smog-prone eastern region of the country.

The 3,324km transmission line, with voltage of 1,100 Kilovolt (kV), is designed to transmit 66 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a year, Xinhua reported. Most of the electricity transmitted via the line will come from the Zhundong coal-fired power plant in northern Xinjiang, which has installed power generation capacity of 28 gigawatts (GW).

China has been promoting cross-region electricity transmission lines, especially EHV projects as they have bigger transmission capacity and smaller line losses compared to ordinary lines. According to the State Grid Corporation of China, the country has 18 EHV lines with overall transmission length of 27,570km by the end of June.

The National Energy Administration last September approved 12 EHV transmission projects, aiming to bring electricity generated by renewable power plants in western China to the east and central regions. REUTERS