Dec 16, 2009 - Xinhua

State Grid Corp of China(SGCC), a major power grid operator, plans to build next year an ultra-high volt-age carrier that will transmit electricity generated by wind and thermal power plants in Inner Mongolia to Jiangsu Province, China Daily reported Thursday.

Work on the 1,300-kilometer transmission line is prepared to get approval from the government, Shu Yinbiao, deputy general manager of SGCC told the newspaper.

The use of ultra-high voltage (UHV) technology in this power transmission project would help better utilize the rich coal mining resources and wind energy in Inner Mongolia, Shu was quoted as saying so.

Power transmission lines employing the UHV technology can deliver to 1,000 kilovolt. Compared with conventional lines they can transmit electricity over longer distance and more efficiently, the newspaper said, citing the analysts.

Such advanced technology is sorely needed as electricity generated by many wind farms in Inner Mongolia cannot be connected to the power grid at present due to a lack of power transmission capability, resulting in a large wastage of energy, according to the analysts.

SGCC said earlier it intended to invest 100 billion yuan into the UHV projects over the next three to four years.

China's first UHV power transmission line linking Changzhi in Shanxi Province to Jingmen in Hubei Province was put into use in January this year. The line had transmitted nearly 8 billion kilowatt-hour by 15, Dec, according to the SGCC.

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