On the outskirts of Golmud in August 2026, at an altitude of 3100 meters on the plateau, the first brand new iron tower was steadily assembled with flashing welding flowers. The whistling high-altitude wind swept over the tower materials and made a light sound, marking the official transition of the Qinghai Tibet Railway electrification external power supporting project from the foundation construction stage to the tower assembly construction stage. This super power transmission and transformation project spanning the Qinghai Tibet Plateau is gradually spreading stable current to the life restricted zone with an average altitude of over 4400 meters, laying the most solid power foundation for the electrification transformation of the Qinghai Tibet Railway.

Breaking the record for plateau construction in terms of project scale

As a basic pilot project for the electrification transformation of the Qinghai Tibet Railway, the project consists of two parts: the Qinghai section and the Xizang section. The line passes through Golmud in Qinghai, Naqu in Xizang, Lhasa and other places, covering a full range of 110~750 kV voltage levels.

The project as a whole includes 17 power transformation projects and 57 single line projects. The total length of the new line is 3481km, and the total number of new iron towers is 7848, including 4359 in Qinghai section and 3489 in Xizang section. The project officially started construction on December 10, 2025. As of August 2026, the completion rate of the entire line's foundation construction has reached 62%, exceeding the annual construction progress target.

In the entire route, 1600 kilometers pass through uninhabited areas such as Kekexili, 1500 kilometers pass through permafrost areas, 2 cross Yangtze River source rivers such as Tuotuo River and Chumar River, 14 cross ecologically sensitive areas, 112 cross drilling AC/DC lines, and 121 cross railways, highways, and national highways. It is currently the highest altitude and most crossed special terrain power transmission and transformation supporting project in China.

Showcasing the construction of hard power under extreme challenges

The high altitude, oxygen deficiency, frozen soil, and fragile ecological environment pose extreme challenges to every step of the project, and also put forward extremely high requirements for construction technology and processes.

Faced with extreme construction conditions, the construction team has comprehensively promoted mechanized construction, significantly reducing the safety risks of high-altitude operations, strictly following high-altitude construction norms and quality control standards, and implementing a construction model of checklist management and refined construction process control.

During the current tower construction process, the engineering project department strictly controls every key process such as excavation of foundation pits, concrete pouring, and foundation maintenance. It regularly carries out quality self-examination, hidden danger investigation, and rectification closed-loop work, strictly implements safety and civilized construction requirements, and ensures the process quality and construction accuracy of the entire foundation construction line.

From the successful assembly of the first iron tower on the outskirts of Golmud to the future 3481 kilometer silver line crossing the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, every step of this super external power supporting project is a construction miracle written by the builders in the "forbidden zone of life". After the completion and operation of the project, it will provide stable and reliable power supply for the Qinghai Tibet Railway, thoroughly enhance railway transportation capacity, accelerate the green transformation of the line, and continuously deliver strong momentum from the power grid for the economic and social development of the areas along the Qinghai Tibet Plateau.Editor/Cheng Liting