Recently, in the core hinterland of the Yardang landform group in the Qaidam Basin, construction of the 750 kV Dingzikou power transmission and transformation project is in full swing. The line project has a total length of 469 kilometers and crosses the foot of the Qilian Mountains in the Qaidam Basin; the substation project covers an area of 298 mu, equivalent to the area of 30 standard football fields. How is such a huge project built?

　　The 750 kV Dingzikou power transmission and transformation project is an important part of serving the development of the country's "desert, Gobi and wasteland" new energy bases. Construction started in November 2023 and resumed on February 18 this year. At the construction site of the 750 kV Dingzikou power transmission and transformation station, the main control building has been topped out. In the distance, cranes stretch their long booms into the sky, carrying out the hoisting of the main structure of the 330 kV GIS (gas-insulated metal-enclosed switchgear) plant. Farther away, groups of steel towers are being erected at a rapid pace.

　　"South of the Kunlun, north of the Qilian, below the mountains lies an 800-li vast sea of sand, and in the 800-li vast sea of sand there is no human habitation." This ballad sings of the Qaidam Basin. How harsh is the environment at the construction site? More than 80% of the soil at the substation location is salt crystals. Within the station area there are a small number of wide and shallow gullies and seasonally frozen soil. For more than 180 days a year, wind and sand rage, and there is a lack of water, electricity, signals, roads and people.

　　Do not worry. Deep in the Gobi there is a plateau iron army. The builders of State Grid Qinghai Electric Power Company take winning the National Quality Engineering Award as their goal, have formulated a whole-process management plan, pay attention to details and methods, and run the requirements of "strict, meticulous and pragmatic" through every stage of the project.

　　"Take the foundation excavation of the substation, for example. We use high-power excavators generally used only in mining to break through the salt rock, change the traditional construction technology, improve the bearing capacity of the foundation and its frost-heave resistance, and make the foundation more resistant to salt-alkali corrosion," introduced Hou Chundong, chief engineer of the substation construction project. The civil works of the substation project have completed 60% of the overall progress.

　　Qinghai Power Transmission and Transformation Company has continuously explored experience in many steel framework hoisting constructions and summarized a segmented hoisting technology for high-voltage-level steel frameworks: first assemble the steel framework in sections, then hoist the steel framework section by section like "building blocks." This technology has been applied to the hoisting of the main structure of the 330 kV GIS plant. Compared with integral hoisting, it not only reduces safety risks but also reduces systematic errors caused by overall control surveying.

　　In terms of the line project, there are 4 bid sections across the whole line, and 939 steel towers will be set up. At present, the foundation construction task of the line section is about to be completed, and the work has entered the stage of steel tower hoisting and erection. How heavy is a steel tower? The answer from Liu Shenghao, the project manager of the project owner, is: 101 meters high and more than 170 tons heavy!

　　"The entire project strives to be completed before the end of December. After completion and commissioning, it will open a new transmission channel for green electricity here," said Liu Shenghao. As Qinghai accelerates its pace in building a national clean energy industry highland, a tens-of-millions-of-kilowatts-level new energy industry cluster has been built on the Qaidam Basin, and the vast Gobi sea of sand has been transformed into an energy oasis.