BEIJING • China started construction of a 22.6 billion yuan (RM13.56 billion) ultra-high voltage (UHV) electricity line to deliver renewable power from the sparsely populated northwestern Qinghai province to central Henan.

The network is being developed by State Grid Corp of China and will run 1,587km (986 miles), passing through Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, according to a statement on the website of Henan government. It’s the first UHV line in the world specifically built for clean energy transmission, it said.

The project underscores State Grid’s effort to use the transmission technology to move electricity from remote regions with an abundance of clean energy to more populous areas as the nation seeks to reduce idled renewable generation. Qinghai is expected to have a surplus of 20GW of wind and solar installations in 2020, while Henan may have a power shortfall of more than 5GW, according to the statement.

The line is expected to begin operation by 2020 and transport about 40 billion kWh of electricity a year, the government said. The delivery will replace 18 million tonnes of raw coal use and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 29.6 million tonnes a year. — Bloomberg