Another "energy artery" is coming, providing direct access to the Greater Bay Area.
According to Guangzhou Daily, on September 16th, the mobilization meeting for the construction of the ±800 kV UHV DC power transmission project from Southeast Tibet to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was held. This project is the world's largest clean energy base DC transmission project, a key cross-provincial power transmission project in China's 14th Five-Year Plan, and an energy transmission artery. It marks the start of the construction of the world's most powerful, technologically advanced, and largest-investment flexible DC power transmission project.
The Tibet-Guangdong DC project relies on the "integrated hydro-wind-solar" clean energy bases in the basins of the Yuqu River, Zhayü Qu River, and Kelong River in Tibet. A total of four ±800 kV UHV converter stations will be built, two in Changdu and Nyingchi in Tibet at the sending end and two in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong at the receiving end. The two converter stations at the sending end will collect more than 20 million kilowatts of clean energy, and the two converter stations at the receiving end will be located in two major load centers, providing strong green and low-carbon energy support for "building a new Guangdong" and further promoting the optimization of the national energy resource layout into a new stage of "a national chessboard".
In July this year, the total electricity consumption in China reached 1.02 trillion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%. The monthly electricity consumption exceeded the 1-trillion-kilowatt-hour mark for the first time, setting a global record. As an economic powerhouse, the total electricity consumption in Guangdong from January to July was 531.521 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%, and the electricity load hit a new record three times.
Specifically, since July, the maximum electricity load in Guangdong has reached 165 million kilowatts, making it the first province to exceed the 160-million-kilowatt mark, accounting for 11% of the national electricity load. The electricity consumption scale is close to that of Japan, the world's fifth-largest economy, and exceeds the combined electricity consumption of Germany and the UK. Previously, Guangdong had formulated the "Implementation Plan for Ensuring Sufficient Power Supply in Guangdong Province in 2025", proposing 15 measures in seven aspects, including coordinating to ensure sufficient power transmission from outside the province.
Tibet, as an important follow-up base for China's "West-to-East Power Transmission" project, is rich in water, solar, and wind energy resources, with unique energy advantages and great development potential. Since the first "Tibet Power Transmission" in 2015, the cumulative external transmission of clean energy from Tibet has reached 15.79 billion kilowatt-hours, generating economic benefits of over 4.2 billion yuan for Tibet.
The Tibet-Guangdong DC project starts from Tibet, passes through Yunnan and Guangxi, and finally reaches Guangdong. The total length of the transmission line is about 2,681 kilometers, and four converter stations will be built in Changdu and Nyingchi in Tibet and Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong. After it is fully put into operation in 2029, it can transmit more than 43 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area every year, which is equivalent to half of the annual power generation of the Three Gorges Dam, and 100% of it is clean energy.
In terms of investment, the total investment in the Tibet-Guangdong DC project is about 53.2 billion yuan, and the investment in the supporting "integrated hydro-wind-solar" power base construction exceeds 150 billion yuan, which can effectively drive the growth of upstream and downstream equipment industries. It is estimated that it can drive more than 100,000 direct jobs at the peak. After the project is completed, the electricity from Tibet can reach the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in 9 milliseconds, and the power transmission per second can reach 2,800 kilowatt-hours, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of an ordinary household.
Looking at the bigger picture, this project is regarded as a key move in the "national chessboard" of energy resources. Local media in Guangdong pointed out that this project goes beyond the simple model of "West-to-East Power Transmission", breaks down regional barriers, achieves precise matching between resources and markets, and between protection and development, and constructs a new model of regional coordinated development.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Urban Evolution Theory", author: Yang Huan. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.