Northwest power grid's cross-regional transmission capacity tops 100 GW

The Northern Shaanxi-Anhui ±800 kilovolt ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission project, built by State Grid, was put into operation on June 30. The energy artery, which links East and West China, has pushed the Northwest Power Grid's cross-regional outbound transmission capacity to 103 gigawatts. The State Grid's Northwest branch has thereby become China's first regional grid with total cross-regional transmission channel capacity exceeding 100 GW.

Ren Jing, director of the dispatch and control center at Northwest State Grid, said the grid can now transmit 100 GW outside the region, equivalent to 4.5 Three Gorges hydropower stations generating at full capacity at the same time.

China's energy resources and power load centers are distributed unevenly, with the Northwest serving as a main sending end for the West-to-East Power Transmission program, said Ma Xiaowei, deputy chief engineer at the branch, adding that outbound transmission is now close to the region's own power load.

Since 2012, 11 UHVDC projects have been built in the Northwest, making it China's regional grid with the largest outbound transmission volume and the densest UHVDC network. Its power supplies reach 25 provincial-level regions. The projects help convert local energy resource advantages into economic benefits and are key to national energy security and energy transition.

"Now that the Shaanxi-Anhui DC project came online, we will continue to improve dispatch at the sending end and ensure stable operation," Ren said. "It will strongly support reliable supply to Anhui and other load centers in East China during the summer peak. We will also tap the potential of other DC channels and organize trading to support national power supply."