Ultra high voltage transmission of electricity (UHV electricity transmission) has been used in the People's Republic of China since 2009 to transmit both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) electricity over long distances separating China's energy resources and consumers. Since 2004, the electricity sector in China has been growing at an unprecedented rate due to the rapid growth in industry of China. A serious supply shortage during 2005 had impacted the operation of many Chinese companies, which led to the country aggressively investing in their electricity supply in order to fulfil the demand from industries and hence secure economic growth. The installed electricity generation capacity has increased from 443 GW at end of 2004 to 793 GW at the end of 2008. The increment in these four years is equivalent to approximately one-third of the total generation capacity of the United States, or 1.4 times the total capacity of Japan. During the same period of time, annual energy consumption has also risen from 2,197 TWh to 3,426 TWh. China's annual electricity consumption is expected to reach 6,800–6,900 TWh by 2018, up from 4,690 TWh in 2011, with the installed capacity reaching 1,463 GW up from 1,056 GW in 2011, of which 342 GW is hydropower, 928 GW coal-fired, 100 GW wind, 43 GW nuclear, and 40 GW natural gas. China is the country with the largest consumption of electricity as of 2011. China's Twelfth Five-Year Plan (covering the period 2011 to 2015) provided for the development of an ultra-high-voltage (UHV) transmission corridor to increase the integration of renewable energy from the point of generation to its point of consumption.
Transmission and distribution On the transmission and distribution side, the country has focused on expanding capacity and reducing losses by:
deploying long-distance ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) and ultra-high-voltage alternating current (UHVAC) transmission installing high-efficiency amorphous metal transformers
UHV transmission worldwide Ultra-high-voltage overhead power lines circuits have long been in use in many parts of the world. For example, 2,362 km of 1,150 kV circuits were built in the former USSR, and 427 km of 1,000 kV AC circuits have been developed in Japan (Kita-Iwaki powerline). Experimental lines of various scales are also found in many countries. However, most of these lines are currently operating at a lower voltage due to insufficient power demand or other reasons. In 2015, the State Grid Corporation of China proposed the Global Energy Interconnection, a long-term proposal to develop globally integrated smart grids and ultra high voltage transmission networks to connect over 80 countries. The idea is supported by CCP general secretary Xi Jinping and his leadership in his attempt to develop support in various internal forums, including UN bodies.
Reasons for UHV transmission in China China's focus on UHV transmission is partly driven by the geographic separation between major energy resources and demand centres. A significant share of China's solar power capacity is located in the solar-rich, sparsely populated western and northern regions, while studies have found that more than 99% of the country's technical potential for concentrated solar power is located in the western provinces of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Gansu, and Tibet. The majority of the hydropower resources are in the west, while coal resources are concentrated in the northwest. Major electricity demands, however, is concentrated in the east and south, including major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. To reduce transmission losses over these long distances, UHV transmission is a logical choice. At the 2009 International Conference on UHV Power Transmission in Beijing, the State Grid Corporation of China announced plans to invest RMB 600 billion (approximately US$88 billion) in UHV development by 2020. Implementation of the UHV grid enables the construction of newer, cleaner, more efficient power generation plants far from population centers. Older power plants along the coast will be retired. This will lower the total current amount of pollution, as well as the pollution felt by citizens within urban dwellings. The use of large central power plants providing electric heating are also less polluting than individual boilers used for winter heating in many northern households. The UHV grid will aid China's plan of electrification and decarbonization, and enable integration of renewable energy by removing the transmission bottleneck that is currently limiting expansions in wind and solar generation capacity whilst further developing the market for long-range electric vehicles in China.
UHV circuits completed or under construction As of 2023, the operational UHV circuits are:
The under-construction/In preparation UHV lines are:
See also
Southern Hami–Zhengzhou UHVDC Electricity sector in China
References
Sources Curtis, Simon; Klaus, Ian (2024). The Belt and Road City: Geopolitics, Urbanization, and China's Search for a New International Order. Yale University Press. doi:10.2307/jj.11589102. ISBN 978-0-300-26690-0. JSTOR jj.11589102. Lewis, Joanna I. (2023). Cooperating for the Climate. doi:10.7551/mitpress/11959.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-262-37264-0.
External links Grid map Grid map, 2001
