State Grid Turpan Electric Power Supply to invest $18m on infrastructure upgrade

State Grid Turpan Electric Power Supply Company said on Wednesday it may invest around 125 million yuan ($17.6 million) to upgrade energy infrastructure this year to address challenges from the grid's increasing integration of power generated from intermittent renewable sources.

The investment will be used to construct 65.8 kilometers of new 220-kilovolt transmission lines for new energy and expand four 220-kilovolt outgoing intervals at two 750-kilovolt substations.

In recent years, China has increased the construction of large-scale wind and photovoltaic projects in the northwestern regions. Data from the National Energy Administration showed that by the end of 2023, the total installed capacity of new energy in 12 western provinces and regions exceeded 400 million kilowatts, accounting for about 40 percent of the national total installed capacity of new energy.

State Grid Turpan Electric Power Supply Company said that Turpan, located in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is estimated to have a technically and economically feasible power generation capacity of 138.1 million kilowatts from new energy sources, including 40.1 million kilowatts of wind power and 98 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power. The company said it is actively promoting grid upgrade to meet the power transmission demand from the increasing construction of large-scale new energy projects.