China Southern Power Grid Accelerates Grid Works to Secure Summer Power Supply Across Southern Provinces

Since the start of summer, El Niño weather patterns have pushed temperatures above seasonal averages across southern regions, driving sustained surges in electricity demand and creating tight operational pressure on power supply systems. China Southern Power Grid adopts a unified cross-regional co-ordination framework to meet summer peak load targets, rolling out accelerated delivery schedules for key provincial and regional grid projects. Ninety-five priority schemes have been commissioned to date, with further infrastructure works advancing at full pace to reinforce grid stability and sustain residential and industrial power consumption across the coverage area.

Main transmission network developments progress concurrently to reinforce regional power frameworks

High-voltage main grids form the structural backbone of power delivery and stand central to reliable summer supply. Grid operators covering five southern provinces have ramped up construction and technical upgrades, targeting high-demand zones and weak grid segments to reinforce transmission capacity.

On 17 June, the expansion of the third main transformer at the 500kV Chuting Substation entered commercial operation, marking Guangdong Power Grid Corporation’s first flagship summer supply project this year. The scheme adds one gigawatt of power delivery capacity, supporting rising peak loads in Panyu and Liwan districts of Guangzhou and underpinning development within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. As the province carrying the highest regional power demand, Guangdong Power Grid has completed all twenty-seven core main grid upgrade projects scheduled for summer readiness to maintain steady grid performance during consumption peaks. Construction timelines for clean energy transmission links have also been brought forward. The Yangjiang Sanshandao Offshore Wind Flexible Direct Current Transmission Project stands at seventy-seven per cent overall completion; the upper converter station block was slid onto transport vessels on 26 June, with shipment to Yangjiang maritime zones scheduled for early July. The 500kV alternating current yard at Jiangmen Gulan Converter Station went live in June, integrating with the 500kV West and Southwest Pearl River transmission corridors and establishing grid interconnections with Xijiang and Jiangmen Substations.

Guangxi’s grid network targets operational efficiency gains through equipment retrofits. The technical upgrade works at the 500kV Hechi Substation were fully commissioned on 20 June after two months of intensive construction. As a pivotal hub serving north-west Guangxi’s trunk grid, the upgraded facility delivers enhanced equipment maintenance standards and fault response capacity, lifting overall stability and supply reliability across the regional transmission network.

Yunnan, a major clean energy producing province, has delivered landmark summer infrastructure milestones. The 500kV Demao Transmission and Transformation Project was energised on 30 June. Delivery teams deployed a multi-layered inspection system combining satellite surveys, fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle three-dimensional laser scanning and manual line patrols to streamline acceptance workflows. The 500kV Demao Substation represents Lijiang’s first fully intelligent 500kV substation, fitted with eighty-five real-time monitoring units that enable co-ordinated integration of wind, solar and hydropower assets alongside full visual oversight of transmission corridors. The installation accommodates over 2,044 megawatts of new energy export capacity and delivers 3.33 terawatt-hours of clean power transmission annually to bolster summer supply reserves across north-west Yunnan.

Guizhou Power Grid Corporation balances domestic load security and renewable energy export capacity through structural grid optimisation. The 500kV Wuchuan Transmission and Transformation Project, a core segment of Guizhou’s 500kV backbone network, was commissioned on 14 June to strengthen cross-jurisdictional energy allocation and satisfy rising power demand in north-east Zunyi. The 220kV outgoing transmission works at the 500kV Tongren West Substation entered operation on 30 June, improving grid stability across eastern Guizhou and supporting domestic power needs and major industrial development sites.

Hainan Power Grid Corporation prioritises rapid commissioning by capitalising on favourable construction windows. Full energisation of the 110kV Binwan Transmission and Transformation Project in Wenchang concluded on 29 June, covering three transmission lines alongside all primary and secondary station equipment. The new infrastructure addresses growing power demand around Wenchang International Aerospace City, raising supply resilience and supporting summer power readiness and the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port.

Cross-provincial interconnection schemes speed up to boost resource allocation flexibility

Parallel progress across regional main grids is matched by accelerated delivery of inter-provincial transmission corridors designed to ease summer supply shortfalls in high-demand zones. Construction of the Xizang-Guangdong UHV DC Project proceeds at full speed to reinforce power delivery infrastructure for Guangdong. Site preparation works including earth backfilling and slope stabilisation advance simultaneously at the Xiaojing Converter Station in Guangzhou and the Central Shenzhen Converter Station. Construction has commenced on the Guangdong and Yunnan line sections, while preparatory groundwork for the Guangxi stretch moves forward steadily. The first tower foundation concrete pour for the Guangdong segment was completed on 23 June, marking the full roll-out of mechanised eco-friendly construction techniques. The project is scheduled to attain power transmission capacity in 2028 and full commercial operation in 2029. Once commissioned, it will channel clean hydropower resources from south-east Xizang directly to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with an annual transmission volume of 43 terawatt-hours, establishing long-term energy reserves for summer peak demand in Guangdong.

Key construction milestones have been reached on the Hunan-Guizhou Grid Interconnection Project. Engineering teams have overcome complex mountainous terrain, heavy earthworks and frequent seasonal rainfall by adopting controlled blasting, layered graded backfilling and high-energy dynamic compaction techniques to resolve construction bottlenecks. Site levelling core works were completed to high standards following 166 consecutive days of round-the-clock labour, with the project now entering full civil engineering construction to hit December’s handover deadline for installation works. The back-to-back converter station forming the core of this cross-provincial flexible power exchange link will strengthen emergency mutual support capacity between the two provincial grids, ease seasonal supply-demand imbalances during Hunan’s summer peaks and Guizhou’s winter peaks, and create conditions for staggered load balancing and joint renewable energy absorption.

On the southern coastal stretch, construction of the Hainan-Guangdong Flexible Power Interconnection Project, a national key energy scheme outlined under the 14th Five-Year Plan, has been expedited. The development builds a third 500kV cross-sea interconnection route between Hainan and Guangdong, lifting bilateral power exchange capacity by fifty per cent to 1.8 gigawatts upon completion. The upgraded interconnection will reinforce power supply foundations for Hainan Free Trade Port and drive high-quality economic progress across both provinces. Construction sites on the Hainan side are fully mobilised, with expansion works at the 500kV Fushan Substation and Linsidao Terminal Station progressing on schedule as teams maximise available construction windows to lay groundwork for civil handover in the latter half of the year.

Co-ordinated energy storage roll-out lifts grid peak-shaving capacity

Robust transmission frameworks and interconnected corridors guarantee smooth power delivery and absorption, while energy storage facilities function as large-scale energy reservoirs and flexible regulators to mitigate peak-to-valley load differentials and enhance grid operational adaptability. In response to record summer power consumption across southern territories, China Southern Power Grid Energy Storage Co-ordinated Operations optimises output from commissioned storage assets while accelerating construction of pumped hydro facilities to strengthen peak regulation capabilities and underpin consistent grid operation.

Operational storage plants run at full capacity to deliver supply balancing services. The four generating units at the Nanning Pumped Storage Hydropower Plant, a landmark national 14th Five-Year energy project, have undergone their first summer peak load cycle since commissioning, supported by newly activated remote dispatching and energy storage control systems. Operational data records 419 start-up cycles since May, with total pumping power consumption reaching 116.5275 gigawatt-hours and power generation output standing at 91.97375 gigawatt-hours, delivering an overall cycle efficiency of 78.93 per cent. The eight generating units at the Meizhou Pumped Storage Hydropower Plant in Guangdong operate at maximum output, participating in market-based dispatch to facilitate renewable energy integration and form a secure, stable and low-carbon power regulation buffer for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Ongoing pumped storage developments maintain tight construction timelines. Facilities in Qinzhou, Guilin and Yulin across Guangxi advance toward staged commissioning during the 15th Five-Year Plan period; the upper and lower reservoir diversion tunnels at the Qinzhou Pumped Storage Hydropower Plant were recently holed through, clearing critical preconditions for main dam construction. More than two thousand construction staff work concurrently on unit installation, reservoir development and water conveyance systems at the Zhaoqing Variable-Speed Pumped Storage Hydropower Plant in Guangdong, targeting full commercial operation in the first half of 2027.

China Southern Power Grid will maintain tight oversight of critical summer supply milestones and uphold rigorous safety and quality benchmarks. Accelerated infrastructure delivery will reinforce transmission networks, expand flexible grid regulation capacity and complete cross-regional interconnection links to sustain secure, stable power flow and reliable electricity provision across all southern service territories, supporting high-quality regional economic and social development.