Why is UHV, the "new infrastructure", gaining attention from all walks of life and being sought after by the capital market?

Recently, "new infrastructure" has become popular, and all parties are actively looking for investment opportunities. "New infrastructure" mainly includes seven major areas: 5G infrastructure, ultra-high voltage, intercity high-speed railways and intercity rail transit, new energy vehicle charging piles, big data centers, artificial intelligence, and industrial Internet.

As the world's most advanced power transmission technology, UHV is one of them. UHV is not a new term. 11 years ago, my country put into operation the world's first UHV power transmission project, entering the UHV era. So, what are the unique features of UHV? What impact does it have on economic and social development and people's lives? Let's take you to see it together!

The Jiuhua UHV intensive channel in Chizhou, Anhui. Photo by Wang Wen

Leading the world, UHV is the basis for the ranking of "new infrastructure"

In the "new infrastructure", UHV is favored by all walks of life and is also strongly pursued by the capital market. For many consecutive days, stocks in the UHV related field have reached their daily limit, standing out from the crowd. What is the reason?

Ultra-high voltage refers to power transmission technology with voltage levels of AC 1000 kV and above and DC ±800 kV and above. It has technical advantages such as large transmission capacity, long distance, high efficiency and low loss. It has occupied the commanding heights of the world's power transmission technology. my country has fully mastered ultra-high voltage AC and DC transmission technology and achieved commercial operation.

In this field, "Chinese standards" are "world standards", and ultra-high voltage has become China's world-class business card.

Ultra-high voltage transmission technology has been continuously innovating and has achieved a series of results.

In 2009, the world's first commercially operated UHV AC transmission and transformation project, the 1000 kV Southeast Shanxi-Nanyang-Jingmen UHV AC Experimental Demonstration Project, was officially put into operation and won the Second China Industrial Award.

In 2012, "Ultra-high Voltage AC Transmission Key Technologies, Complete Equipment and Engineering Applications" won the special prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award.

On January 8, 2018, the "Ultra-high Voltage ±800 kV DC Transmission Project" won the special prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. On December 9, the Xiangjiaba-Shanghai ±800 kV UHV DC Transmission Demonstration Project won the Fifth China Industrial Award.

Ultra-high voltage power transmission technology has achieved "China creation" and "China leadership" in the field of world power transmission technology, and has also successfully gone abroad.

On December 21, 2017, the commissioning ceremony of the first phase of the ±800 kV UHV DC transmission project in Belo Monte, Brazil, jointly invested and constructed by State Grid Corporation of China and Brazilian National Electric Power Company, was held, marking the official commercial operation of China's first UHV "going out" project.

As UHV goes abroad, a large number of my country's power equipment also enters the world market, breaking the long-term monopoly of companies such as Siemens and ABB.

Chen Weijiang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that ultra-high voltage transmission technology and equipment have become China's new business card in the international power market.

It is obvious that UHV has just shown its potential and will play a big role in the construction of "new infrastructure" in the future, and is expected to become an international new infrastructure with broad influence.

Super strong driving force, a powerful tool for economic growth

Xi'an, an ancient capital, has a profound historical heritage and a strong cultural atmosphere. In recent years, with the rise of short videos, Internet celebrity products such as "Breaking Bowl Wine" and "Tumbler Sister" have been praised by netizens, and Xi'an has become an "Internet celebrity city".

However, like other cities in the country, the arrival of the new coronavirus epidemic has made the city lose its former hustle and bustle and suddenly become quiet.

This kind of silence makes people uneasy and pours cold water on local enterprises. Although the Spring Festival holiday has been extended, Pang Yanli, assistant to the general manager and senior engineer of Xi'an Perri Power Semiconductor Converter Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Perri"), has not completely calmed down. She is always concerned about the company's ultra-clean factory.

"Even if our clean room is not in production, we still need to rely on nitrogen and other gases to maintain the environment. During the holidays, the nitrogen cannot be stopped. If it is not enough, I have to replenish it quickly," Pang Yanli explained.

The nitrogen cannot be stopped for a moment, which means that even if the production line is not in production, it will still incur costs, which undoubtedly increases the pressure on the company.

Talking about this issue, Pang Yanli was very grateful for the company's production arrangements before the Spring Festival. "Our products mainly serve UHV projects. Last year and this year, many UHV projects were started, and we received a lot of orders. The idea was very simple at the time. Working overtime can reduce the production cost of products and give us time to accept more orders." Pang Yanli introduced that before the Spring Festival, the workers on the production line worked in three shifts, working day and night, and rushed to produce a lot of orders.

"Fortunately, we worked overtime before the Spring Festival, which reduced the pressure of not being able to resume work on time after the Spring Festival." Speaking of this, Pang Yanli was a little excited.

What really reassures Pang Yanli is that since mid-February, the ultra-high voltage projects invested and constructed by State Grid Corporation of China have resumed work and production one after another.

The Qinghai-Henan ±800 kV UHV DC project, the Zhangbei-Xiong'an 1000 kV UHV AC project, the Ya'an-Jiangxi ±800 kV UHV DC project, the Shaanxi-Hubei ±800 kV UHV project... A large number of UHV projects have come one after another, boosting market confidence and effectively driving the resumption of work and production of power equipment manufacturing companies.

"Our company serves the UHV project, which is a national key project. Now that the UHV project has started, the government should support us in resuming work and production." After seeing the news about the resumption of work on the UHV project, Pang Yanli began to prepare materials for resumption of work, conducted physical examinations on employees, and made preparations for safe production.

On February 25, Perry shares resumed production. Pang Yanli told reporters that the thyristor valve discs they produce are the core components of the converter valves, and they supply to Nanrui Group, Xuji Group, Xidian Group, etc., with each order ranging from 30 million to 40 million yuan. Now they can produce at full capacity, so that the economic benefits in the first half of the year will not be affected by the epidemic.

Ultra-high voltage transmission lines are long and have large investment scales. They have the advantages of a long industrial chain, strong driving force, and significant economic and social benefits. They are a powerful tool to promote economic development.

At present, eight UHV projects within the coverage of State Grid Corporation of China have resumed construction in full swing. The annual investment scale of UHV construction projects is 181.1 billion yuan, which can drive social investment of 360 billion yuan, with an overall scale of 541.1 billion yuan, serving the high-quality development of the economy and providing new impetus for future economic development.

Integrating digital technology, UHV has unlimited prospects

Digitalization is the lifeblood of “new infrastructure”. What is the relationship between ultra-high voltage and digital technology?

In the field of new infrastructure, State Grid Corporation of China has carried out rich application practices in sharing UHV substations and 5G base stations, new energy vehicle charging piles, big data centers and artificial intelligence, such as new energy forecasting, drone operations, robot inspections, intelligent operation and maintenance of substations, and enterprise resumption of work power index of power big data.

Zhao Dongyuan, director of the research laboratory at the Energy Internet Innovation Institute of Tsinghua University, believes that by introducing digital technologies such as big data, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, and connecting the flow of information, energy, and value, the power grid can integrate the entire chain of electricity production and consumption internally, expand outward to the entire energy value chain and digital ecology, and be highly integrated with social governance and the financial system, thereby promoting the maximization of the value of large-scale physical power networks through digital economic models.

UHV converter station + 5G base station

On June 24, 2019, the 5G network uplink and downlink rates of the UHV Guquan Converter Station in Xuancheng City, Anhui Province were successfully tested and met the design requirements. This marked the successful construction of China's first "UHV + 5G" base station and verified the feasibility of 5G network construction in UHV substations.

The country's first "UHV + 5G" base station was built at Guquan Station. Photo by Yuan Xiang

Through the application of 5G technology, Guquan Station has realized real-time feedback of 4K high-definition surveillance video signals within the station and remote monitoring of patrol robots.