On May 14, Tibet's first "power sky road", the DC expansion project of the Qinghai-Tibet Internet Connection Project, began construction, which is the first expansion project carried out on the basis of the DC transmission project already in operation in China.

The Qinghai-Tibet Interconnection Project, completed and put into operation in December 2011, is the world's highest direct current transmission project with the longest distance through permafrost, enabling Tibet's power grid to connect with the national power grid for the first time. The total investment of the Qinghai-Tibet DC expansion project is 2.603 billion yuan, including nine individual projects such as Golmudi ±400 kV converter station expansion project, Lhasa 500 kV substation expansion project and supporting 220 kV transmission line project.

Yin Junqiang, deputy director of the construction department of State Grid Tibet Electric Power Co., LTD., said that the highest altitude of the Qinghai-Tibet network project DC expansion project is 4511 meters, the extreme low temperature is as low as minus 41.2℃, mainly using the parallel structure of the valve group, and it is expected to face difficulties such as complex natural environment, tight time and difficult construction during the construction period. It is understood that after the completion of the DC expansion project of the Qinghai-Tibet Network project, the DC transmission capacity will increase from the current 600,000 kilowatts to 1.2 million kilowatts, further ensuring and meeting the electricity demand for the high-quality economic and social development of Tibet.

Since the 13th Five-Year Plan, the electricity consumption of the whole society in Tibet has increased by more than 16 percent annually, and more and more farmers and herdsmen in high-altitude remote areas of Tibet have access to stable electricity. This is due to Tibet grasping the advantages of water scenery resources in the snowy plateau, vigorously building clean energy power supplies, and a more stable large power grid has also alleviated the plight of power shortages in winter and spring for the masses.

Since Tibet first delivered electricity through the Qinghai-Tibet Interconnection Project in 2015, by the end of April 2024, the project had delivered more than 20 billion KWH of electricity in both ways, equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 15.87 million tons.

In recent years, Tibet's power grid has continued to upgrade, and has continued to extend coverage to more remote and difficult areas, entering a new era of ultra-high voltage unified power grid with 500 kV as the main grid and coordinated development of power grids at all levels. State Grid Co., Ltd. has invested more than 80 billion yuan in total, and has built four "power heavenly roads" - Qinghai-Tibet Network, Sichuan-Tibet Network, Tibetan-China Network and Ali Network, as well as a new round of rural power network upgrading. Editor/Xu Shengpeng