When the wind from the Shaanbei Plateau swept over Baota Mountain in the early morning, the streets and alleys of Hefei, thousands of miles away, were already lit up. Once upon a time, the energy fates of these two lands rarely intersected; Now, an invisible Milky Way of electricity tightly connects them.

The Milky Way of Electric Power runs east-west

On June 30, 2026, the Shaanbei Anhui ± 800 kV high-voltage direct current transmission project was completed and put into operation. This project is also the first ultra-high voltage direct current line to be put into operation in China's 15th Five Year Plan.

This transmission line starts from Baota Mountain Converter Station in Yan'an, Shaanxi, runs through three provinces of Shaanxi, Henan, and Anhui, and ends at Hezhou Converter Station in Hefei. The total length of the DC line is 1055 kilometers, with a rated transmission power of 8 million kilowatts. After the project is put into operation, it can deliver over 36 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to Anhui every year, with clean energy accounting for more than half.

Green electricity nourishes the Jianghuai region with fertile soil

Yang Pengcheng, Deputy Director of the Converter Station Department of the State Grid Ultra High Voltage Division, introduced that the project is equipped with 11 million kilowatts of new energy installed capacity, which can help promote the large-scale development of clean energy in northern Shaanxi. This channel is also the first ultra-high voltage line in Anhui province to consume all electricity locally, which can add 8 million kilowatts of power load to the local area and continuously adjust Anhui's energy supply structure. Keywords: ultra-high voltage, green electricity, new energy

This route can reduce the use of coal by 5.5 million tons per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 14.2 million tons, with outstanding green benefits. At the same time, sufficient external power transmission can ensure the peak electricity consumption in Anhui during summer and ensure stable power supply in the East China region. As of now, State Grid has completed and put into operation 43 ultra-high voltage projects, with a total cross regional transmission scale exceeding 380 million kilowatts, continuously enhancing the level of national energy coordination and allocation.Editor/Gong Ziwei