China willing to share UHV experience with other countries

[Shotgunner51]

English.news.cn 2015-02-11 14:18:48
ORLANDO, the United States, Feb. 10 (Xinhua)
Editor: Luan

China is willing to share its experience in developing a long-distance power transmission technology known as ultra-high voltage (UHV) grid with other countries, a Chinese official said here Tuesday.


China has "comprehensively mastered the core technologies of UHV transmission with independent intellectual property rights," said Liang Xu Ming, director of executive director office of the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC),

"We would like to share the UHV innovations with all countries ...(to) make contributions to the sustainable development of human society," liang said at the launching ceremony of the English version of a book titled "Ultra-High Voltage AC/DC Grid".

Liang said his company has overcome technical difficulties such as voltage control, external insulation configuration and electromagnetic environment since it decided to build UHV grip in 2004.

UHV, defined as voltage of 1,000 kilovolts or above in alternating current (AC) and 800 kilovolts or above in direct current (DC), is designed to deliver large quantities of power over long distances with less power loss than the most commonly used 500-kilovolt line.

By the end of 2014, the SGCC has built three AC and four DC projects, Liang said, adding that the transmission lines in operation and under construction have reached 15,000 kilometers in length with the transmission or conversion capacity of 150 gigavolt-amperes and have delivered over 280 terawatthours of electricity.

He also revealed that a consortium embracing the SGCC and the Brazilian Electric Power Company won a bid last year to build a 2,000 km-long UHV line transmitting hydropower from the Belo Monte Dam, the world's third largest hydroelectric dam scheduled for completion in 2015, to Brazil's developed regions in the south and southeast.​

This is the SGCC's first overseas UHV transmission project and "a further step forward towards a greater impact and application of our UHV technology in the world," the SGCC official said.​

Liang also believed the English version of UHV AC/DCower Grid could further promote bilateral cooperation between China and the United States in the energy and electric power sector.

"If the United States wants to build a smarter and stronger power grid that can realize electric transmission between its east and west coasts, only UHV technology can do it," he said.

Patrick Ryan, executive director of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power and Energy Society, hailed China as a leader in the world in the creation and deployment of UHV power transmission.

"UHV AC and DC demonstration projects (in China) have been in safe and stable operation for more than six years and four and a half years respectively," Ryan said in a written statement read at the ceremony.

The new "book gives us all an excellent opportunity to observe, learn and share the vast experiences," said Ryan.

Robert Gee, former assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, representatives from the book's publisher Elsevier, and industrial representatives were present at the launching ceremony of the book compiled by SGCC President Liu Zhenya.

Between the 1960s and 1990s, Russia, Japan, the U.S. and Italy had carried out tests and studies of UHV transmission technology, but due to political factors like the disintegration of the Soviet Union and reduced demand, their UHV plans and projects all came to a premature end.

 

[Shotgunner51]

Other than being a leader in UHV transmission, China also leads the world in next generation of smart grid which is expected to be completed by 2020.

“Dear President, how can we help your country?” - AIIB | Page 4

 

[AndrewJin]

Other than being a leader in UHV transmission, China also leads the world in next generation of smart grid which is expected to be completed by 2020.

“Dear President, how can we help your country?” - AIIB | Page 4

Along National Expressway G56 and G60 last weekend
I guess it is one of the UHV corridors.

 

[Shotgunner51]

An artcile from last year

Column - Super-grid: China masters long-distance power transmission| Reuters

Super-grid:
China masters long-distance power transmission


Thu Jun 19, 2014 8:59am EDT
LONDON | By John Kemp

LONDON (Reuters) - China’s power engineers have become world leaders in ultra-high-voltage transmission systems connecting far-off power sources with cities hungry for electricity.

China already has seven ultra-high-voltage (UHV) lines in operation, more than any other country, carrying power over thousands of kilometers at around 800,000 or even 1 million volts.

In April, the government gave the go-ahead to build another line operating at 1 million volts between rural Anhui province and the cities of Nanjing and Shanghai.

The National Energy Administration, which is part of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic regulator, has ambitious plans for as many as 12 inter-regional ultra-high-voltage transmission corridors spanning the country.

Most of the existing and planned transmission lines run broadly west to east and are intended to take power from western and central regions, where there are abundant hydro, coal, gas, solar and wind resources, to major industrial cities near the east coast.

With so many projects planned, State Grid Corp of China (SGCC) is looking forward to a “golden era” of UHV development at home and likens its UHV experience to a “golden business card” to help it win business overseas, according to a company release (“China enters a golden era of UHV development”, May 16).

CUTTING POLLUTION

State Grid says UHV will give China a unified national electricity market for the first time as well as helping to meet booming electricity demand and cut pollution.

UHV is intended to link the country’s existing regional grids in a national network. But it is also meant to herald much bigger changes in the way China uses energy.

SGCC wants the coal- and oil-fired boilers used in factories, offices and district heating systems across northern China to be replaced by electric heating to cut the air pollution that kills millions of people every year.

Much of the electricity for the grid would still be generated from coal, a source of greenhouse emissions as well as air pollution.

But large central power stations are likely to be more efficient than the small and old boilers used in many northern areas to provide winter heating, and it would be easier to fit them with scrubbers and other technology to cut pollution.

Shifting from coal to electric heating would also enable China to integrate more clean sources of power such as wind and solar into the energy mix.

State Grid calls it the “coal-to-electricity” program and says it would help meet many of the government’s plans for increasing energy efficiency, cutting pollution, and reducing dependence on imported oil.

Coal-to-electricity aims to replace coal-burning stoves for industrial and residential purposes with electric ones to curb air pollution, SGCC Executive Vice-President Yang Qing told a conference on green electricity in November 2013.

Oil-to-electricity could help develop the market for electric vehicles and electric irrigation in rural areas, to cut reliance on gasoline and diesel, Yang explained (“SGCC proposes coal-to-electricity to control smog”, Xinhua, Nov. 8, 2013).

Under a program launched last year, SGCC intends to replace many district heating boilers with large-scale heat pumps, according to Xinhua.

SGCC’s strategy for cleaning up China’s pollution problem and cutting greenhouse emissions is essentially similar to the climate plans being pursued by governments in Europe and North America.

The strategy consists of two separate transitions: electrification and decarbonization. It would shift more energy consumption away from direct use of fossil fuels onto the electricity grid, then cut emissions from power plants by replacing fossil fuels with more renewables and nuclear power.

LOST IN TRANSMISSION

China’s problem is that main sources of fossil fuels and renewables for power generation are hundreds and even thousands of kilometers from where the electricity is most needed.

All transmission systems lose energy between generation and the end consumer as the electricity encounters resistance in the wires along the way and some energy is lost as heat.

On average, about 6 percent of the electrical energy transmitted and distributed in the United States was lost between 1990 and 2012, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The further electricity is transmitted, the more is lost. Economic considerations therefore tend to cap transmission distances.

One reason why solar power stations in North Africa and the Sahara cannot currently be used to supply electricity to Northern Europe is that the transmission losses would be too great.

But it is possible to reduce the proportion of energy lost by stepping up the voltage, which is why China and a number of other countries have begun developing ultra-high-voltage systems to carry power over much longer distances.

In the United States, most long-distance transmission lines operate at 230kV, 345kV, 400kV or sometimes 500kV, where kV stands for thousand volts. In Britain, most of the National Grid operates at 275kV or 400kV. But China’s existing UHV systems mostly operate at 800kV, nearly twice as high, or even 1,000 kV in some cases.

GOLDEN ERA OF UHV

Operating at extremely high voltages creates technical challenges as transformers, towers, cables and relays must run safely in a more demanding environment than normal.

Much of the early work on UHV systems was done by electrical engineering companies such as Siemens and ABB. However, SGCC has mastered the technology and says 90 percent of the engineering work has now been localized.

China’s existing UHV lines have delivered more than 160 terrawatt-hours of electricity since they were commissioned, about the same as the annual consumption of the state of Ohio or half what Britain uses in a year.

The company says its UHV lines have successfully withstood extreme weather, including heat, cold and storms.

Now China wants to export that expertise to other developing and developed countries looking to build long-distance transmission lines or super-grids.

In February, a consortium led by SGCC won a 30-year concession to build and operate a 2,000-km (1,240-mile), 800kV UHV line in Brazil. The transmission system will carry power from the Belo Monte dam in northern Brazil to the major consumption centers in the southeast.

“The successful bid fully reflects the company’s advantages in this area and will promote China’s technology, equipment and experience on UHV transmission into Brazilian and other overseas markets,” SGCC trumpeted in a statement (“SGCC won the bid of Brazil’s Belo Monte Hydropower UHV Transmission Project”, Feb. 11).

In the past, some policymakers have expressed concerns about linking up China’s entire electricity network in one giant super-grid, fearing more interconnectedness would also increase the risk of nationwide power blackouts.

But according to SGCC, top officials, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, endorsed the UHV super-grid strategy at a meeting in April.

“The Premier's stance ended the argument of whether to construct UHV. The answer is YES and MORE. This year will be a golden era of approving and constructing lots of UHV projects.”

In practice, not all these projects are likely to be approved. SGCC has had its plans scaled back before. But enough will go into construction in the next few years to transform China’s electricity industry radically.

 

[Beidou2020]

Great to see China exporting UHV transmission technology.

This is another area where China has broken foreign monopoly and now can export it to the world.