Major Chinese power transmission project now fully operational

BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- China has put into full operation a major domestic power transmission project that sends electricity from the resource-rich west of the country to energy-consuming regions in the east.

The construction of the Baihetan-Zhejiang 800-kilovolt ultra-high-voltage (UHV) direct current power transmission project was completed on Friday and it has already started operating, according to the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid).

The clean electricity generated in Baihetan, the country's second-largest hydropower station, will be sent from the southwestern province of Sichuan to eastern Zhejiang Province through a transmission line stretching 2,121 km.

A similar project that transmits power from Baihetan to Jiangsu Province in the east was put into use in July.

About 60 billion kWh of clean electricity will be delivered annually through the two UHV projects, saving 27 million tonnes of coal and helping reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 49 million tonnes, said Huang Yong from the UHV department of State Grid.

These projects will also help eastern regions cope with the upcoming winter power use peak and will assist these regions with meeting the power demands of economic development and ensuring people's livelihood, Huang said.

Located on the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze River in southwest China, Baihetan has a total installed capacity of 16 million kilowatts -- second only to the Three Gorges Dam project.