On August 20, the Ningxia-Hunan ±800 kV Ultra-High Voltage Direct Current (UHVDC) Transmission Project was officially commissioned. All the green electricity transmitted is sourced from CHN Energy Longyuan Power’s Tengger Desert Area New Energy Base in Ningxia. From the initial operation of the bipolar low-end DC system on June 29 to the full completion and operation of the bipolar high-end DC system on August 20, the first and second phase (northern section) of the Zhongwei PV Power Project, with a total capacity of 2 GW, has already delivered 620 million kWh of green electricity to Hunan.
As a supporting power source for the “Ningxia Power Transmission to Hunan” project, CHN Energy Longyuan Power’s Tengger Desert Area New Energy Base is among the first of its kind in China and the first such base in desert areas to be approved, commenced and operationalized. The base plans to develop renewable energy installations with a total capacity of 13 GW, supported by 4.64 GW of thermal power peaking units, bringing the total capacity to 17.64 GW. Once fully operational, the project will transmit 36 billion kWh of electricity annually to Hunan, accounting for approximately one-sixth of Hunan’s yearly electricity consumption. More than 50% of this electricity will be generated from renewable sources.
Since the trial operation of the Ningxia-Hunan UHVDC transmission project began, Ningxia Longyuan New Power Co., Ltd. has seized the opportunity presented by the summer peak electricity consumption period to maximize power generation. Wu Jiaping, responsible for electricity trading in the company’s marketing department, stated, “In July, we actively negotiated with Hunan’s electricity consumers to establish a transaction curve. Initially, we secured medium- and long-term transactions for 358 million kWh of electricity, achieving favorable economic returns.”
Other projects at the new energy base are also progressing rapidly. The 1 GW southern section of the Zhongwei PV Power Phase II Project is about to be connected to the grid, and construction has commenced on a 2.5 GW large-scale wind power base. Preliminary work for a 3 GW PV project is steadily advancing.
