Overview
Per CCTV’s Xinwen Lianbo on October 28, China’s new power-grid build-out is accelerating across the board. In Sichuan’s Aba, the Aba–Chengdu East UHV project is in its final pre-commissioning sprint; once online by year-end it will deliver over 15 TWh of clean power to the Chengdu–Chongqing area annually. In Inner Mongolia, the Mengxi–Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei ±800 kV UHV DC line has entered a critical tower-erection phase, chiefly carrying 12 GW of green power from the Kubuqi desert base. Xinjiang’s 1.5 GW Hami solar-thermal-storage hybrid is ~95% complete on civil works; Guangdong’s Sanshandao offshore-wind VSC-HVDC link has finished construction and entered commissioning. On the digital front, Zhejiang’s virtual power plant completed a new round of grid interaction; China now operates over 530 VPPs, with national peak regulation capacity projected to exceed 50 GW by 2030.
Background & Interpretation
1. Industry Background and Policy Context
The grid is the hard supporting pillar among the six networks. With wind and solar capacity surpassing 2 TW, renewables’ share of supply keeps rising, making grid absorption, regulation and cross-region allocation the key bottleneck of the new energy system. From mountains to deserts to seascapes, large grid projects are physically unblocking the large-scale, long-distance, dispatchable delivery of green power.
2. Core Drivers and Underlying Mechanisms
UHV and VSC-HVDC solve getting it out: cross-region DC lines directly link desert bases to load centers. Solar-thermal-storage hybrids solve keeping it stable: PV plus thermal plus heat storage deliver dispatchable green power at night or on cloudy days. Virtual power plants solve dispatching it: AI-driven control forecasts demand in real time and reallocates surplus power, aggregating distributed flexible load into meaningful regulation capacity.
3. Market Structure and Industry Chain Effects
Grid investment is shifting from conventional transmission toward a systematic mix of UHV plus VSC-HVDC plus storage plus VPP. On the equipment side, converter valves, VSC cables, PCS and solid-state transformers see rising demand; on the operations side, VPP and load aggregators grow in importance. Regionally, green-power security for Chengdu-Chongqing, Jing-Jin-Ji and the Greater Bay Area will strengthen markedly.
Implications & Outlook
Near term, a cluster of projects commissioning from year-end into next year will directly lift transmission and new-energy equipment demand. Medium term, as renewable-utilization targets and market reform advance, grid regulation capacity—not mere generation—becomes the core absorption constraint. The 50 GW VPP target by 2030 means demand-side resources will be systematically activated.
Takeaways for Industry Participants
- Equipment makers should position around VSC-HVDC, PCS and solid-state transformers, balancing UHV and distributed investment timing.
- Energy-service firms should explore VPP aggregation models, turning flexible load into tradable regulation capacity.
- Power consumers can join demand response and green-power trading to secure cheaper, cleaner electricity.
This column compiles industry information and shares technical perspectives; it does not constitute investment advice.