In the first three quarters of 2026, the construction scenario of the construction of the national new power grid will move from the coast of the East China Sea to the western plateau. The progress bar of the fixed assets investment of the National Power Grid will move forward significantly, and the cumulative investment completed will exceed 450 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 5.2%. The real gold and silver that has been put into practice is building the most solid physical foundation for the national new power system.

The pace of core engineering construction continues to accelerate

State Grid is making every effort to promote the construction progress of ultra-high voltage projects from Datong to Tianjin, South Gansu to Zhejiang, as well as five flexible and straight back-to-back projects, and the construction speed of cross regional energy allocation arteries continues to accelerate. In June 2026, the installed power generation capacity in China exceeded 4 billion kilowatts, and the objective demand for high proportion of new energy grid connection is forcing the acceleration of the landing of ultra-high voltage cross regional channels. The national ultra-high voltage cross provincial and cross regional transmission capacity has increased from 270 million kilowatts at the end of the 13th Five Year Plan to 340 million kilowatts.

According to the 15th Five Year Plan for the construction of a new type of power grid, there will be 15 new ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) green power transmission channels added nationwide in the future. The overall scale of the West East power transmission will exceed 420 million kilowatts, and more than 6 cross regional power mutual aid projects will be built, with an additional power mutual aid capacity of about 40 million kilowatts, greatly improving the country's ability to allocate clean energy across time and space.

The upgrade and synchronization of the distribution network side are fully implemented

While the main power grid is accelerating its extension, the distribution network, as the capillary connecting the main network and users, is also synchronously promoting quality improvement and renewal. During the 15th Five Year Plan period, the proportion of investment in the distribution network to the total investment in the power grid will exceed half. By the first three quarters of 2026, the construction rate of urban and rural distribution network renovation and upgrading projects in China will reach 92%, and the carrying capacity of distributed new energy grid connection is steadily increasing from 500 million kilowatts to 900 million kilowatts. Keywords: ultra-high voltage, power system

With the continuous investment in the new power grid, the safety resilience and flexible adjustment capability of the national power system will be further enhanced. It can not only undertake the massive transmission and consumption of wind and solar power from the west to the east, but also adapt to the grid connection needs of new formats such as distributed photovoltaic virtual power plants and vehicle network interaction. The investment of 450 billion yuan in real money is gradually transforming the blueprint for the construction of a new power grid into a three-dimensional power network covering the whole country.Editor/Cheng Liting