China begins ultra-high voltage transmission line, connects third largest hydro station

China breaks ground on ultra-high voltage transmission line in south
Xinhua News
July 28, 2012

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/723876.shtml

Construction on a west-to-east ultra-high voltage direct current (UHV
DC) power transmission project kicks off in southeast China's Zhejiang
province on Saturday, marking the nation's latest efforts to ease power
shortages in its eastern regions.

The project, funded by the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), will
transport about 40 billion kilowatt-hours of hydropower from Xiluodu
Hydropower Station in southwest China to Zhejiang annually after its
scheduled completion in 2014, saving 12.28 million tonnes of standard
coal or 34 million tonnes in carbon emissions.

The SGCC, the nation's major power grid operator, will invest 23.86
billion yuan (3.79 billion U.S. dollars) in the construction of the project.

Starting in Yibin, a southern city in Sichuan province, the
1679.9-kilometer transmission line will traverse Guizhou, Jiangxi and
Hunan provinces to reach Zhejiang's central city of Jinhua.

The project is the SGCC's third UHV DC power transmission project after
the Xiangjiaba-Shanghai and Jinping-Nanjing transmission lines, which
were completed in 2010 and 2012, respectively, according to Liu Zehong,
director of SGCC's DC power construction department.

The three transmission lines together will support a transmission
capacity of 21.6 million kilowatts and help meet rising power demands in
energy-consuming cities in eastern China, Liu said.

These projects will also help fuel the exploration of clean energy in
the country's water-rich southwestern regions and make water resources
there an economic advantage, which will in turn promote balanced
regional growth, Liu said.

Xiluodu Hydropower Station on the Jinshajiang River is the country's
third largest hydropower project after the Three Gorges project and
Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station.

The installed capacity for hydropower on the Jinshajiang River could
amount to 90 million kilowatts, about five times that of the Three
Gorges project, according to Liu.

UHV, defined as voltage of 1,000 kilovolts or above in alternating
current and 800 kilovolts or above in direct current, is designed to
deliver large quantities of power over long distances with less power
loss than the most commonly used 500-kilovolt lines.
________________________________________________

You received this message as a subscriber on the list: china@list.internationalrivers.org

To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp