Transmission projects drive region's renewable energy across China

The ±800-kilovolt ultrahigh voltage direct current transmission project linking Hami in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region with Chongqing municipality in Southwest China is now operational, marking China's third major project to transmit electricity from energy-rich Xinjiang to other parts of the country.

This vital energy corridor can transmit electricity derived from Hami's wind, solar, coal and other resources to Chongqing, located around 2,200 kilometers away, in just 0.007 seconds.

The transmission line is projected to deliver more than 36 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually to Chongqing's power load center. This shift to renewable energy is equivalent to saving approximately 6 million metric tons of coal and reducing about 16 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, significantly contributing to environmental sustainability.

The project epitomizes Xinjiang's efforts to position itself as a national energy strategic supply base. Spanning one-sixth of China's territory, the autonomous region is leveraging its rich wind and solar resources to drive a cleaner and more efficient energy future for the nation.

Its journey into wind power began in 1985, culminating in the installation of 13 150-kilowatt wind turbines imported from Denmark in Dabancheng, Urumqi, by 1989. This was the largest wind farm in China and Asia at the time, laying the groundwork for the country's wind power industry.

Since 2010, aligned with national plans, Xinjiang has developed a large number of wind and photovoltaic projects, alongside large-scale wind power bases and grid-connected PV stations.

The completion of several "Xinjiang electricity transmission to other provinces" projects has accelerated the comprehensive development and utilization of renewable energy, marking a new phase of large-scale growth.

Xinjiang continues to set new benchmarks in new energy development, aiming to add 30 million kW of grid-connected wind power by 2025.

On April 10, the construction of a 1-million-kW wind power project by China General Nuclear Power Group commenced in Jeminay county, Altay prefecture. This key initiative will integrate with the "source-grid-load-storage" project in Jeminay Border Economic Cooperation Zone, helping Altay prefecture build 10 million-kW clean energy bases.

By the end of 2024, Xinjiang had established three 10-million-kW new energy bases in Hami, Zhundong and southern Xinjiang and the region's total installed capacity of new energy exceeded 100 million kW, a 2.8-fold increase since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

Moreover, the first phase of Nilka county's 4-million-kW wind-solar integrated project, the largest single-scale project in Asia, has been put into operation, and Ruoqiang county's 4-million-kW desert PV project, the largest single-capacity project in China, has been connected to the grid. Xinjiang's vast deserts are rapidly transforming into a "blue ocean" of green electricity.

Storage stations

Energy storage is crucial for new energy, acting as a "water tank" to enhance the power system's regulation capacity.

On April 2, Huadian Kaisheng's PV energy storage station in Mulei Kazak autonomous county connected to the grid, bringing Xinjiang's new-type energy storage capacity to over 10 million kW, ranking first in western China.

In 2023, Kuqa launched China's largest PV green hydrogen demonstration project, which produces hydrogen through water electrolysis. It can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 485,000 tons annually, equivalent to planting 300,000 trees.

The State Grid Xinyuan's pumped storage power station in the Tianshan Mountains became fully operational in 2024. This project can provide peak shaving, frequency modulation, phase modulation, energy storage, spinning reserve and other functions for the power system, effectively easing peak load regulation and power supply pressures.

Data from State Grid Xinjiang Power show that Xinjiang has built 218 new-type energy storage power stations, utilizing technologies such as lithium iron phosphate, all-vanadium redox flow, flywheel and supercapacitor.

These methods help Xinjiang convert large-scale clean energy into stable and continuous electricity. In 2024, the region's power grid increased its new energy utilization rate by 3.6 percent year-on-year.

"At present, the energy storage development in Xinjiang is characterized by large-scale, market-oriented, and diversified growth, meeting the needs of its new power system," said Li Changling, deputy director of the energy development research center at the State Grid Xinjiang Power's economic and technological research institute.

By the end of this year, the grid-connected scale of new energy storage in Xinjiang is expected to exceed 20 million kW, Li noted.

Green power

In the first quarter of 2025, Xinjiang transmitted 32.4 billion kWh of electricity to other provinces, a 13 percent increase year-on-year, with new energy accounting for 24 percent.

The region now has four outward transmission channels, reaching 22 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, up from the initial seven, reshaping the national energy landscape.

The new energy industry has fostered a new economic ecosystem in Xinjiang. Hami hosts the sixth-largest wind power equipment manufacturing base in China and the largest in northwestern China, with a complete industry chain and strong growth momentum in new energy development.

Urumqi's abundant new energy resources support the green hydrogen industry, accelerating the formation of a full industry chain covering hydrogen production, storage, transportation, refueling, and utilization.

Karamay, backed by strong electric power support, has built the largest single-scale film and animation rendering base in China, accounting for 70 percent of the country's total rendering computing power.

With its 100-million-kW installed capacity, Xinjiang is planning for higher-quality development of the new energy industry. Looking ahead, the autonomous region will continue to build new advantages, promote the construction of wind and solar bases focusing on deserts and wastelands, and develop more power transmission channels.

It will also implement integrated wind-solar-thermal-storage and source-grid-load-storage projects to boost the efficient utilization of new energy and the green and low-carbon transformation of industries.

Additionally, Xinjiang plans to advance the construction of smart computing center clusters, explore pilot projects of computing-power-electricity synergy, and build parks with full green electricity and low electricity prices to attract computing power enterprises, according to the local government.