STATE Grid Corporation of China began construction over the weekend on an ultrahigh voltage power transmission line — with the world's largest capacity — in the far western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the State-run power distributor said yesterday.

    The 800-kilovolt line will connect Hami prefecture in eastern Xinjiang with the city of Zhengzhou in Central China, crossing six provinces. The line will require total investment of 23.4 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion) and is expected to be operational in 2014, the company said.

    The transmission line is part of a boom in the construction of ultrahigh voltage lines, as the country strives to transmit the electricity from the energy-rich west to the booming central and eastern regions, Xinhua said.

    The line will transmit 48 billion kWh of electricity to Central China a year, equal to the consumption of 22.1 million tons of coal, Xinhua said. "We can reduce 317,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and 267,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, which would otherwise be produced during the transportation of coal," State Grid general manager Liu Zhenya said.

    By 2015, Xinjiang is expected to transmit 30 million kilowatts of electricity to other provinces with an annual capacity of 16.5 million kilowatts. This will raise Xinjiang's GDP by 1.5 basis points, create 60,000 new jobs in the region and generate 2 billion yuan of tax revenue for Xinjiang, State Grid said.(SD-Agencies)