The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) has commissioned the ±800 kV Ningxia–Hunan ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission project with power delivery commencing this week.
The project delivers electricity from Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region to Central China’s Hunan province. The project is the first UHV line in the country approved to primarily transmit wind and solar power from Gobi Desert bases. More than half of the electricity transmitted will be generated from renewable sources, positioning the line as a vital channel for large-scale clean energy allocation and improved power supply security. The ±800 UHVDC project entails building 1,634 km of lines that start in Zhongwei, Ningxia on the edge of the Tengger Desert, travel through the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing and Hubei, and finally reach Hunan. The project also entails building two converter stations, one in Zhongwei, Ningxia, and the other in Hengyang, Hunan, with a combined transmission capacity of 8 GW and a project investment of CNY28.1 billion.