Wenzhou Ruian 500KV Energy Intergration Station Begins Construction

The Wenzhou Ruian 500 kV Energy Integration Station began on August 25. Upon completion, the station will provide centralized grid access for more than 4,000 MW of offshore wind power, tidal flat photovoltaic power and electrochemical energy storage capacity into a single system, enabling large-scale, multi-dimensional integrated development of renewable energy on a large scale and across multiple dimensions.

The project is a pragmatic response by Wenzhou to the challenge of getting renewable power on to the grid and transmitting it outward, drawing on the city's long-standing pioneering spirit.
Wenzhou, which has recently joined China's ranks of trillion-yuan cities, is undergoing profound changes in its industrial and energy structures. Its distinctive landscape, traditionally described as "seven parts mountains, two parts water and one part farmland," together with its extensive coastline offers abundant natural resources for renewable energy development. In recent years, offshore wind power and tidal flat photovoltaic projects have developed rapidly, driving strong growth in Wenzhou's clean energy installed capacity while placing growing pressure on the grid's ability to integrate and accommodate renewable power. Over the next three years, as major projects including San'ao Nuclear Power Phase II and Cangnan No. 3 Wind Farm are successively commissioned, Wenzhou's total installed capacity of new energy is expected to reach a new peak of 16,610 MW.

Against this backdrop, the Ruian 500 kV Energy Integration Station has emerged as a solution. It functions like a "super power strip" for renewable energy, enabling centralized control and dispatch, frequency and voltage regulation, as well as the centralized delivery of power to substations for grid connection. The station will implement the "Four Centralizations" — centralized grid connection, centralized regulation, centralized control and centralized conversion — for diverse types and forms of power sources. This will help address the challenges of large-scale centralized integration, regulation and accommodation of renewable energy, while promoting the intensive use of land resources. By using a single 500 kV transmission corridor for centralized power transmission, the project is expected to reduce the land occupied by transmission corridors by more than 2,000 hectares.

The project's construction model is another pioneering initiative. It is being jointly developed and shared by multiple stakeholders, including the local government, the power supply company and new energy project owners, marking the first attempt in Zhejiang Province to establish a government-enterprise collaborative partnership for the construction of a million-kilowatt-scale energy integration station. The power supply company took a proactive role from the outset, providing professional assessments of grid-connection plans during the preliminary planning stage and assuming responsibility for operation and maintenance after the station enters service. This approach will help coordinate the interests of all participating parties and achieve the "Three-Friendly" principle — generation-friendly, grid-friendly and society-friendly. The model provides a valuable reference for similar projects in areas such as the efficient accommodation and active support of renewable energy, the safe and stable operation of new power systems, coordinated interaction among generation, the grid, loads and storage, and coordinated control of diverse energy storage systems.

From a broader perspective, the Ruian 500 kV Energy Integration Station is a pivotal step by State Grid Wenzhou Power Supply Company in supporting Zhejiang's broader energy development and Wenzhou's industrial development spanning nuclear power, wind power, solar power, hydropower, pumped storage, hydrogen and energy storage. As Wenzhou works to become a national hub for new energy production and a demonstration city for new energy applications, how to provide more efficient transmission pathways and utilization solutions for its abundant wind and solar resources has become an important question for the city's energy transition. The construction of the Ruian 500 kV Energy Integration Station may offer a compelling answer.

(Xia Yangchenyu, Shen Jie)