A major power transmission project connecting Shanxi Province's Datong City to Tianjin Municipality in north China has begun construction, the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) announced on Tuesday.
As part of China's west-to-east power transmission system, the 1,000kV ultra-high voltage (UHV) AC project spans 770 kilometers, passing through Huailai County in north China's Hebei Province.
The project has a total investment of 23 billion yuan (about 3.18 billion U.S. dollars). Once completed, it will strengthen northern China's power transmission network, significantly improving the security, reliability, and resilience of the electricity supply in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
"By 2030, electricity consumption and peak load in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are expected to increase by approximately 21 percent and 43 percent, respectively, compared with 2024. This project will increase northern China's UHV power transmission capacity to 21 million kilowatts, optimizing the energy supply structure for the region's load centers," said Dan Gang, director of the substation department of the UHV Division under State Grid.
The project will integrate eight million kilowatts of new renewable energy and four million kilowatts of supporting coal power into the grid, helping Shanxi and Hebei to further unleash their potential of energy resources, and accelerate the green transformation of energy.
"The project will facilitate the transmission and consumption of renewable energy generated from Shanxi and Hebei, promoting the consumption of over 14.6 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually. This will replace 4.45 million tons of coal consumption and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 11.81 million tons each year," said Yan Xiaohong, director of the construction department at State Grid Shanxi Electric Power Company.
Construction begins on major power transmission project linking Shanxi, Tianjin
The United States military hit a civil factory in Yemen's Hodeidah city amid its fresh round of airstrikes on the Houthi-held Red Sea port city on Monday night.
The privately-owned iron and steel plant, located in the Salif district north of Hodeidah city, was targeted by 12 U.S. missiles.
Footage recorded by a China Media Group (CMG) correspondent showed that the roof of the factory completely collapsed after the airstrike, and broken bricks and tiles, as well as shrapnel from artillery shells, could be seen everywhere.
The factory had to stop production due to the damage to the equipment.
"The attack on this plant will leave 250 to 300 workers unemployed, with material losses estimated between 13 million to 14 million U.S. dollars," said Saleh Atifa, Houthi-appointed head of Hodeidah's industrial department.
The U.S. military claimed that they were targeting military facilities, but the steel plant was completely an independent civilian plant, according to the Houthis.
"The brutal hostility of the U.S. military targets civilian facilities and other key facilities. Like the steel plant you see here, it belongs neither to the state nor to the military, nor to the security department or the Houthis. It is an independent civilian factory," said Hodeidah governor Abdullah Atifi.
Over the past two days, dozens of Houthi-controlled military sites, as well as dozens of residential houses, have been targeted and bombed by U.S. fighter jets across the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa, and several other northern and western provinces under Houthi control.
The tensions in the Red Sea are a visible manifestation of the spillover effects of the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict centered on the Gaza Strip.
The renewed conflict in the Red Sea comes after Israel halted the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza Strip on March 2, coinciding with the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
On Tuesday, the Houthi group announced that it would resume launching attacks against any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab al-Mandab Strait until the crossings of the Gaza Strip are reopened and aid is allowed in.
US military hits civil steel plant in Hodeidah, Yemen
