Center

Cross-sea power grid connection set for record

(Xinhua/Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-02-12 09:08

China started construction on its first - and the world's longest - cross-sea power grid connection on Saturday.

The link will transmit electricity between coastalGuangdongProvince andHainanIsland in the country's south.

The 500-kilovolt power pathway will cross the Qiongzhou Strait, connecting the Gangcheng transformer substation in Guangdong's Zhanjiang City and the Fushan transformer substation in the island's Chengmai County.

The investor, China Southern Power Grid Corporation, will use 144-kilometer-long wires to connect the two systems.

The lines will cost 2.1 billion yuan (US$271 million) and are expected to be put into service in the first half of 2009.

"The Hainan power grid has long been isolated from the other grids. The project will unify the five power grids in south China," said Yuan Maozhen, board chairman of China Southern Power Grid.

"The power grids can transmit electricity to each other after the connection project is completed. It will improve Hainan power grid's safety and efficiency," Yuan said.

State-owned China Southern Power Grid covers the provinces of Guangdong,Yunnan,Guizhouand Hainan and theGuangxiZhuang Autonomous Region, providing electricity to 230 million people.