The US isn’t the only nation concerned about its power grid. In January 2019, China completed the world’s first 1.1 million-volt powerline, transmitting electricity from Changji in its northwest to Jiujuan in the center of the country, a distance of 2,046 miles—roughly the same as Los Angeles to Cleveland. This ultra-high-voltage (UHV) line is part of a grid that can precisely control voltage and frequency at any point, and redirect flow instantly to balance supply and demand.
Before 2000, China had a fragmented and rickety power infrastructure; then it began including grid development in its Five-Year Plans. UHV lines were needed to connect China’s resource-rich interior with its energy-hungry eastern cities. A larger and more reliable grid was needed to exploit renewable energy. When completed in a few years, China will have a unified grid with 25 UHV lines, 23,000 miles of lines, and a capacity of 150 gigawatts or about the output of 150 nuclear plants.
China’s energy ambition goes beyond its own border though. The government-owned State Grid Corporation (#2 on the Forbes Global 500) is the biggest power distributor in Brazil; has partnerships in Australia, Greece, Italy, the Philippines, and Portugal; and has projects in Egypt, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Pakistan. In March 2016, it signed a deal with Russia and Japan to develop the Northeast Asian Supergrid, distributing energy to those countries and Mongolia. A month before, its leader, Liu Zhenya, proposed a global grid—one that could source wind power at the North Pole and solar power at the equator.
China clearly sees advantage in being the world’s leading power grid developer. Its Belt and Road Initiative invests trillions of dollars into infrastructure across the globe, particularly in developing countries in Asia and Africa; power grids are but one of its offerings. Such projects permanently entrench China in those nations. As such, in only two decades, China has made power grid technology a strategic lever to position itself as a world leader.
Reference:
Bloomberg, “World’s Biggest Ultra-High Voltage Line Powers Up Across China,” T&DWorld, 2 Jan 2019, retrieved from https://www.tdworld.com/overhead-transmission/article/20972092/worlds-biggest-ultrahigh-voltage-line-powers-up-across-china
James Temple, “Dreams of a global grid,” MIT Technology Review (122, 1), Jan/Feb 2019, 49-51; see https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/11/08/138280/chinas-giant-transmission-grid-could-be-the-key-to-cutting-climate-emissions/
Photo: Bloomberg
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