Chongqing's First U.S. High-pressure Access Road Opens in Years

It was learned from the city power company that the preparatory work for the Ya'an-Chongqing 1000-kilovolt UHV AC line is currently in progress. It is expected that the project will start construction within this year. This is the first U.S. high-voltage access route, marking the “high-speed road” for foreign power transmission. Chongqing is about to enter the era of UHV.

Due to the extraordinary economic development, by the end of the “11th Five-Year Plan”, Chongqing’s energy dependence on foreign countries exceeded 20%. It is expected that the degree of foreign energy dependence at the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan will be close to 50%. During the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, according to the average growth rate of Chongqing GDP of 12.5%, the average annual growth rate of Chongqing's power load is about 10.8%. In 2015, Chongqing’s maximum power will exceed 21 million kilowatts, and the maximum power gap will be more than 4 million kilowatts. If we take into account the impact of coal, unit failures, incoming water and other factors, the gap will further increase.

Last year, the representative of the People's Republic of China put forward the collective proposal of “Proposing Accelerating the Construction of UHV Power Transmission Projects to Ensure the Supply of Electric Power in Chongqing” and called on the country to accelerate the pace of UHV importation. State Grid Corporation of China stated in its response to the Chongqing delegation: "The State Grid Corporation of China will fully promote the inclusion of Ya'an-Chongqing-Wannan, Hami-Chongqing and other UHV projects in the country under the strong support of Chongqing Municipality." 'Special plans for energy, electricity, power grids, etc., and intensify efforts to strive for early approval and early start of construction.'

The Municipal Electric Power Company will also promote the construction of Sichuan Ya'an-Chongqing UHV AC project and complete the preliminary work of Xinjiang Hami-Chongqing UHV DC project as the primary task of power grid construction.

According to Meng Qingqiang, general manager of the Municipal Electric Power Company, according to the overall plan of the State Grid, Sichuan plans to send 3.5 million kilowatts of Chongqing in 2015. The existing capacity of the existing 500 kV tie-line in Sichuan-Chongqing has reached saturation (about 2 million kilowatts in Chongqing). Ya'an-Chongqing 1000kV UHV AC line construction can open up Sichuan-Chongqing UHV AC channels and promote the optimal allocation of power resources in Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone.

Xinjiang is an area rich in energy resources in China, with a predicted reserve of 2.19 trillion tons of coal resources. The construction of Hami North-Chongqing DC UHV in Xinjiang to achieve point-to-grid power transmission can ensure medium and long-term energy security in Chongqing, realize east-west hydrothermal power, and promote the optimal allocation of resources throughout the country.

Meng Qingqiang also stated that this year, the city will invest 9.3 billion yuan in the construction of power grids. In addition to promoting the U.S. high-voltage access, it will also accelerate the promotion of the 500-kilovolt upgrade from the current "Japanese"-shaped ring network to the "mesh-shaped" ring network. The single-line single-line change of the 110 kV power grid was eliminated in an all-round way, which greatly improved the anti-risk ability, power supply reliability, and voltage quality of the Chongqing power grid, providing strong power support for the rapid economic development of Chongqing.