China operates the Changji-Guquan ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission line at an extraordinary 1.1 million volts. Commissioned in 2019, it became the world’s first commercial transmission project to operate above one million volts.
The 3,293-kilometer line connects energy-rich Xinjiang with electricity demand centers in Anhui. Its 12 GW capacity allows enormous amounts of power to travel more than 2,000 miles through a single transmission corridor.
Ultra-high-voltage direct current reduces losses during extremely long-distance transmission compared with lower-voltage systems. This makes it possible to move electricity from remote wind, solar, and other energy projects to distant megacities.
China built this technology because many of its largest renewable energy resources are located far from its major population and industrial centers. The country’s vast UHVDC network acts like an electricity superhighway, linking western deserts with eastern cities.
Other countries have experimented with extremely high-voltage transmission, but China has deployed 1,100 kV DC technology commercially at an unmatched scale. The Changji–Guquan line demonstrates how continent-sized grids could move massive amounts of low-cost electricity across thousands of kilometers.
Sources:
IEEE Spectrum
Envisioning
State Grid Corporation of China
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