The Chinese power transmission network operator State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) has completed the construction of an 800 kV ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) power line worth CNY22.6bn (US$3.2bn) linking Qinghai to Henan in central China. The 1,587-km long transmission line is expected to enter full operation in December 2020 and is designed to transport 40 TWh/year of electricity.
In April 2020, State Grid resumed construction on an 800 kV, 800 MW UHVDC power transmission project between Yulin in the Shaanxi province and Wuhan in the Hubei province of China. Construction works had been suspended in the Hubei province, the epicentre of the global coronavirus pandemic. The new line is expected to start operations in 2021. The CNY 18.5bn (US$2.6bn) project will include nearly 3,000 km of UHVDC power lines, with a total transmission capacity of 14 GW. It will enable to deliver 40 TWh/year of electricity from the Shaanxi province – whose coal reserves are estimated at 270 Gt (12% of the national reserves) – to the Hubei province, where electricity demand is rising rapidly.