China on Tuesday started the construction of a 1,000-kilovolt Ultra-High-Voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) loop grid project in Zhejiang Province to better support the growth of emerging industries.
The Zhejiang UHV AC loop grid project starts in Zhejiang's Jiaxing City and ends in Lishui City, linking seven cities including Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Taizhou and Wenzhou. With a total line length of 508 kilometers and a total investment of 29.3 billion yuan (about 4.3 billion US dollars), it is China's largest single UHV AC transmission project in terms of both scale and investment.
During China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), newly added clean energy capacity in Zhejiang's coastal areas alone is expected to exceed 31 million kilowatts.
The power will be transmitted to load centers in east China via the project, enabling annual clean energy integration of over 57 billion kilowatt-hours and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 44.62 million metric tons.
"The Zhejiang UHV AC loop grid project will enable the integration of large-scale offshore wind power in eastern Zhejiang, pumped storage in the western mountainous areas, and nuclear power in the southeast. It will meet the electricity demand of load centers in northern Zhejiang and the Yangtze River Delta region, enhance the overall power supply capacity of Zhejiang and even East China's power grid, and better serve the coordinated development of the Yangtze River Delta with green energy," said Jin Renyun, general manager of construction branch of State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd.
As a major electricity-consuming province with limited energy resources, Zhejiang relies heavily on external power supply. The completion of the project will significantly improve local energy self-sufficiency efficiency and better support industrial development.
In the first quarter of 2026, Zhejiang's total electricity consumption reached 161.59 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of over 5 percent.
Among this, electricity used by information technology, advanced manufacturing and related sectors amounted to 43.69 billion kilowatt-hours, up 7.5 percent year on year, accounting for more than 40 percent of total industrial electricity consumption.
Since the beginning of 2026, many cities of Zhejiang have accelerated the cultivation of advanced manufacturing clusters.
In Hangzhou, the new-generation information technology industry represented by artificial intelligence consumed 1.25 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in the first three months, up 15.9 percent year on year.
In Jiaxing, the high-end equipment manufacturing industry represented by automobile manufacturing consumed 190 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in the first quarter, up 10.6 percent year on year.
The surging demand for electricity urgently requires stronger power supply capacity.
"In the first quarter of this year, Jiaxing's total electricity consumption reached 18.65 billion kilowatt-hours. The project will enable unimpeded 'large-scale circulation' of electricity within Zhejiang, significantly improving the supply-demand balance among regions. After clean energy is delivered to Jiaxing through the loop, emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, life sciences and future energy in the Yangtze River Delta integrated demonstration zone will receive stronger energy support," said He Mingfeng, deputy general manager of State Grid Jiaxing Power Supply Company.
The project is scheduled to be completed by 2029.
Once completed, it will close the loop with Zhejiang's existing grid structure, forming a UHV grid comprising one intra-provincial loop line and four extra-provincial direct current (DC) lines, thereby enhancing the province's power supply capacity.
It will also integrate over 57 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy annually, providing green momentum for the energy transformation of the Yangtze River Delta region.
Construction of key power transmission project in Yangtze River Delta begins
