The Chinese power transmission network operator State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) has resumed construction on a 800 kV, 800 MW ultra-high voltage (UHV) direct current (DC) 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.

In addition, SGCC has awarded several orders to ABB to supply advanced HVDC converter transformers and equipment for three 800 kV UHVDC transmission lines, which will each be able to transport up to 8,000 MW of electricity: the 1,700 km-long Yazhong-Nanchang project between the Sichuan province (southwest China) and the Jiangxi province (eastern China), which is part of China’s West-East Electricity Transmission initiative; the 1,100 km-long Shaanbei-Wuhan line; and the 1,500 km-long Qinghai-Henan project.