Power Line Linking Qinghai, Henan Goes into Service

The ±800 kV Qinghai-Henan ultra-high voltage (UHV) direct current (DC) project went into operation on July 15. The project will transmit power in Northwest China's Qinghai province to Central China's Henan province.

Constructed by State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid), the project starts from the Hainan Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Qinghai, passes Gansu and Shaanxi provinces and finally ends in Henan.

The 1,587-kilometer line has two converter stations in the starting prefecture and Zhumadian in Henan and can transmit as much as 8 million kW of electricity.

With a total investment of 22.3 billion yuan ($3.18 billion), the project began construction in November 2018.

During construction, all parties worked together and overcame negative natural difficulties including extremely hot and cold weather, high altitude as well as complicated geological conditions.

It's worth mentioning that the project is the world's first of its kind to transmit new energy on such a large scale and to be built at 3,000 to 4,000 meters above sea level.

Moreover, the newly-upgraded advanced UHV power transmission technology used in the construction was unprecedented. It was also the first time an 800kV converter transformer was assembled on-site.

Upon completion, the project, which is expected to transmit 40 billion kWh of power to Henan annually, will help achieve mutual complementarity in the interest of the provinces' economic and social development and promote supporting power source investment of more than 100 billion yuan.

It will strongly support development of energy as a pillar industry in Qinghai and at the same time meet soaring power demands in Henan.

A view of the section of the ±800 kV Qinghai-Henan UHV DC that goes over Funiu Mountain in western area of Henan [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)