Another good spring season has arrived. The 2024 Government Work Report proposed to "strengthen energy and resource security safeguards" and to "step up the construction of large-scale wind and photovoltaic bases and power transmission channels, promote the development and utilization of distributed energy, and enhance the grid's capacity to accommodate, allocate, and regulate clean energy." State Grid Corporation of China keeps in mind the "top priorities of the nation," firmly shoulders its primary responsibility for ensuring power supply, and organizes all its units to seize the current favorable window for project construction, refine measures concerning safety, personnel, materials, and equipment, and go all out to advance major energy projects, thereby safeguarding the safe and stable operation of the power grid and reliable electricity supply and better serving high-quality economic and social development.

　　Empowering with Momentum: UHV Construction Accelerated
　　In Luding County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, construction of the Jinsha River Upstream–Hubei UHV DC transmission project is in full swing, with power construction workers racing against time on mountain ridges to assemble tower components. "The section we are working on lies in a high-altitude heavy-ice zone; the slopes at the more than one hundred new towers all exceed 35 degrees, with the steepest reaching 65 degrees, and at some towers the height difference between legs is nearly 20 meters—it is like erecting towers on a 'knife's edge,'" said Zou Zhongxuan, project manager of State Grid Sichuan Power Transmission and Transformation Company. This UHV DC transmission project, the highest in altitude in the world, will after commissioning transmit nearly 40 billion kWh of electricity annually to Central China, replacing more than 17 million tons of coal.
　　Construction workers from State Grid Sichuan Power Transmission and Transformation Company assemble tower components at the construction site of the Jinsha River Upstream–Hubei UHV DC transmission project.
　　The Xinjiang Hami–Chongqing UHV DC transmission project is being accelerated, with new energy accounting for more than 50 percent of the electricity; the Shaanbei–Anhui UHV DC transmission project has been approved, with total investment exceeding 80 billion yuan... Transmission channels for large-scale wind and photovoltaic bases are being laid out in an orderly manner, and the main grid framework is being continuously improved, laying a solid foundation for large-scale new energy consumption, safe grid operation, and stable power supply.
　　The vigorous advancement of major energy projects not only enhances energy and resource security safeguards and helps achieve the "dual carbon" goals, but also plays an important role in stabilizing investment. This year, State Grid Corporation of China proposed that grid investment is expected to exceed 500 billion yuan. At present, ten UHV projects are being comprehensively advanced, including the Jinsha River Upstream–Hubei, Longdong–Shandong, Ningxia–Hunan, and Hami–Chongqing ±800 kV UHV DC projects, the Wuhan–Nanchang, Zhangbei–Shengli, and Sichuan–Chongqing 1000 kV UHV AC projects, and the expansion projects of the 1000 kV UHV Beijing West, Shijiazhuang, and Tianjin substations.

　　Stabilizing Growth: Grid Structure Continuously Optimized
　　As the economy continues to recover and improve, China's electricity demand will keep growing steadily. State Grid will further optimize and improve the grid structure, promote the construction of a new-type power system with a digital and intelligent strong grid, vigorously enhance the grid's carrying capacity, and ensure that grid development always keeps pace with economic and social development.
　　On March 13, the 500 kV Science City power transmission and transformation project, construction and management of which is undertaken by State Grid Beijing Electric Power Company, broke ground, marking the official start of construction of this key project in Beijing's electric power development plan for the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.
　　The Beijing 500 kV Science City substation covers an area of about 45,000 square meters and is Beijing's first indoor 500 kV hub substation and also its first 500 kV steel-structure substation. In this phase, the project plans to install three sets of transformers, build about 9.3 kilometers of new transmission lines and 27 new towers, and add 3,600 MVA of transformation capacity, equivalent to six times the transformation capacity added in Huairou District during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period. The project is scheduled to be commissioned in 2026; once completed, it will further meet the high-reliability electricity demand of major national scientific research projects, provide important power support for Huairou Science City, and help build Beijing into an international center of science and technology innovation with high quality.
　　On March 13, the Beijing 500 kV Science City power transmission and transformation project broke ground.
　　At the southeast corner of the intersection of Xinghuo Road and Hongmiaopo Road in Lianhu District, Xi'an, Shaanxi, at the construction site of the Xi'an Central 330 kV power transmission and transformation project, nearly one hundred workers are orderly carrying out work such as clearing and dismantling underground spaces and main formwork supports, secondary structure and tunnel support construction—a busy scene.
　　The Xi'an Central 330 kV substation is the first 330 kV substation within Xi'an's Second Ring Road. In this phase, three 500 MVA transformers, three 330 kV lines, and eight 110 kV lines will be built. The project is expected to be ready for energization and commissioning in June this year. Once the substation is completed and put into operation, it will provide reliable electricity for 280,000 households, meet the new electricity demand of Xi'an's central urban area, ease power supply pressure in northwestern Xi'an, optimize the grid structure of Xi'an's central urban area, improve the grid's mutual supply capacity, and provide reliable power source support for Xi'an's construction as a national central city.
　　The power grid connects energy production and consumption and is the network hub for energy transmission, conversion, and utilization, directly related to the national economy and people's livelihood and to national energy security. In recent days, grid construction across the country has ushered in a wave of resumption, accumulating new momentum for high-quality economic and social development.
　　In Jiangsu, the Jiangsu power grid is expected to commission 313 projects of 35 kV and above in 2024, adding a total line length of 2,984.4 kilometers and transformation capacity of 22,738.5 MVA, driving innovative development of related industries such as raw materials, power sources, and high-end power equipment, and going all out to promote sustained economic recovery and improvement.
　　In Zhejiang, all 30 projects of 500 kV and above have resumed construction. In 2024, the Zhejiang power grid will start construction of 3,003 kilometers of transmission lines of 110 kV and above and 25.84 million kVA of transformation capacity, and commission 4,400 kilometers of transmission lines of 110 kV and above and 22.01 million kVA of transformation capacity, strongly supporting power supply assurance, improvement of people's livelihood, and local economic and social development.