China's first ultra-high voltage direct current project to be put into full production all at once – the plus-minus 800 kV Longdong-Shandong ultrahigh voltage (UHV) direct current line, started operating on May 8.

With a total investment of 20.2 billion yuan ($2.79 billion), the project starts at the Qingyang Converter Station in Gansu province's city of Qingyang, also known as Longdong, passes through Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei provinces, and ends at the Dongping Converter Station in Tai'an, Shandong province.

The plus-minus 800 kV Longdong-Shandong UHV direct current line starts operating on May 8. [Photo provided to gogansu.com]

It took two years to finish and is China's first large-scale integrated energy base transmission project for the integration of wind energy, solar energy, thermal power generation, and energy storage systems.

The project can transmit 36 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to Shandong province every year, of which new energy accounts for over 50 percent, and can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 16 million metric tons per year.

The project will help Gansu province transform its resource advantages into economic advantages and ensure safe and green energy use in Shandong.

The plus-minus 800 kV Longdong-Shandong UHV direct current line can transmit 36 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to Shandong province every year. [Photo provided to gogansu.com]