On the 4th January 2017, the assembly of the first transmission tower in the ±1100KV UHVDC Changji-Guquan project was completed. The tower will support the 3324km UHVDC transmission line as it crosses the Qinling Mountains, the west-east range that crosses the Shaanxi province, in the NorthWest of China.
Figure 1. UHVDC Transmission Tower (Source: Xinhua WANG)
This project is the one of most advanced
Ultra High Voltage DC transmission projects globally, an the first at 1100kV transmission voltage, also breaking the records for largest transmission
capacity, and longest transmission distance. The project is part of the Chinese Government's strategy for ‘transmitting power from the West to the East of China’. It has ability to transmit 66 billion KWh annually, which
equal reducing coal transport around 30.24 million tones, declining 59.4
million tones CO2, above all it reducing the dependence of fossil-fuel based
power plants in Eastern China.
Figure 2 Changji - Guquan UHVDC transmission line route (Source: Zhundong)
A converter station with capacity at
24000 MW, will be located in Changji, Xinjiang Autonomous Region in the West of China and the 3324 km transmission line will cross five provinces (Gansu, Ningxia, Shanxi, Henan) delivering power to the Anhui province in the East with the second converter station located in Guquan. The project is currently under way with the assembly of the transmission towers, and is expected to be completed in May of 2018.
Figure 3 Guquan converter station (Source: Baidu)
Approximate location of the Guquan converter station: https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Guquan+Finance+Tax+Office/@38.5238301,102.7321987,4.21z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xaf767e2bfb086f0b!8m2!3d31.0294014!4d118.6523438
Approximate location of the Changji converter staion:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Changji,+Xinjiang,+China/@38.5238301,102.7321987,4.21z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x3808987c96bc25a3:0x6b697e3c92c9b8f3!8m2!3d44.0125709!4d87.3028564
Approximate location of the Guquan converter station: https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Guquan+Finance+Tax+Office/@38.5238301,102.7321987,4.21z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xaf767e2bfb086f0b!8m2!3d31.0294014!4d118.6523438
Approximate location of the Changji converter staion:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Changji,+Xinjiang,+China/@38.5238301,102.7321987,4.21z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x3808987c96bc25a3:0x6b697e3c92c9b8f3!8m2!3d44.0125709!4d87.3028564
-Dezhen,ZHANG