China develops ultra-high voltage grid

On August 19 the cornerstone was laid for China's first ultra-high-voltage grid, a demonstration project starting in the southeastern part of Shanxi, running through Nanying and finishing at Jingmen. The project is the begnning of a new chapter in grid construction that focuses on the integration of ultra-high-voltage grids with grids of a different size at different levels around the country.

China has an unbalanced distribution of primary energy and electrical power. Abundant energy resources are available in western China. More than two thirds of exploitable water resources are centered in Sichuan, Tibet and Yunnan, while over two thirds of coal resources are around Shanxi, Shaanxi and the western part of Inner Mongolia. The economy is more developed in eastern China, with over two-thirds of electrical power directed to the east of the Beijing-Guangzhou railway. There is as much as 2000 kilometers between the energy bases in the west and the power load centers in the east.

"As the ultra-high voltage transmission technology available at present cannot meet the needs of future power growth, the development of the power grid and technological innovation must be expedited. The power industry and scientific development can be optimized through the construction of an ultra-high voltage grid to satisfy sustainable and rapid development of the economy," said Liu Zhenya, President of the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC).

The ultra-high voltage grid, a power transmission network with 1000 kilovoltages AC and 800 kilovoltages DC, expands across great distances, has a large capacity, occupies just a little land and uses only a small amount of power to transmit.

Lu Yanchang, Chairman of the Chinese Society of Electrical Engineering (CSEE), used figures to extol the advantages of an ultra-high voltage grid: the transmission power of 1000 kilovoltages AC is 4 to 5 times that of 500 kilovoltages, and the transmission power of 800 kilovoltages DC is over twice that of 500 kilovoltages. Power can also be transmitted across an area three times the current range and land resources can be saved if the electric current is transmitted by an ultra-high voltage AC line, with only 25 percent to 40 percent consumption of 500 kilovoltages.

The Shanxi-Nanyang-Jingmen test demonstration project will be completed in 2008. According to a group of experts from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, it will become an important channel for energy transmission once it's in operation, benefiting power distribution in the northern and middle parts of China.

According to SGCC, as part of the 11th Five-year Plan, the ultra-high voltage line will be 4200 kilometers in length, with a capacity to transform 39 million kilovoltage- amperes. China is about to launch two projects that will carry 800 kilovoltages DC; from Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station to eastern China and from Xiluodu Hydropower Station to central China.

By 2020 or so, the ultra-high voltage grid frame will be fully functional. It will have the capacity to transmit 200 million kilowatts and will account for over 20 percent of China's total power capacity. By then, it will be possible to transmit large quantities of electricity from neighboring countries to China.

By 2020 the capacity of the grid is expected to be reduced by 20 million kilowatts and the investment in power supply will reduce by 82.3 billion yuan. Power transmission from the north to the south is expected to reach 55 million kilowatts. It is hoped that the cost of annual coal consumption will reduce by 24 billion yuan.

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The first ultra-high voltage grid in China (He'nan phase) is launched

The project, undertaken by the Nanyang Ultra-high Voltage Switchyard, is an important part of the first ultra-high voltage grid in China and was formally launched on August 20. At the foundation-laying ceremony, Liu Zhenya, President of the SGCC, said that the Shanxi-Nanyang-Jingmen ultra-high voltage test demonstration project would close an important gap in the national power grid

Ultra-high voltage grid project launched under dispute

On the morning of August 19, a year later than the scheduled date, the SGCC's Shanxi-Nanyang-Jingmen ultra-high voltage test demonstration project was launched in Changzhi, Shanxi Province.

The launch of the first ultra-high voltage grid project closes a gap in China's power grid.

The SGCC's Shanxi-Nanyang-Jingmen ultra-high voltage test demonstration project was launched in Changzhi, Shanxi on August 19, the first ultra-high voltage grid in China.

By People's Daily Online