China completes "power expressway loop" around southern Xinjiang desert

中国建成环南疆沙漠“电力高速环线”

Staff members work on the final section of the 750-kilovolt (kV) loop in Minfeng County of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 13, 2025. China has finished construction of a 4,197-km extra-high voltage power transmission loop around the Tarim Basin, home to the country's largest desert, marking a major infrastructure milestone in southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China. (Photo: Xinhua)

2025年7月13日，工作人员在中国西北部新疆维吾尔自治区和田地区民丰县的750千伏环路最后一段工作。中国已经完成了环绕塔里木盆地的4197公里超高压输电环路的建设，塔里木盆地是中国最大的沙漠所在地，标志着中国西北部新疆维吾尔自治区南部的一个重大基础设施里程碑。（图片来源：新华社）

China has finished construction of a 4,197-km extra-high voltage power transmission loop around the Tarim Basin, home to the country's largest desert, marking a major infrastructure milestone in southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China.

中国已经完成了环绕塔里木盆地的4197公里超高压输电环路的建设，塔里木盆地是中国最大的沙漠所在地，标志着中国西北部新疆维吾尔自治区南部的一个重大基础设施里程碑。

The final section of the 750-kilovolt (kV) loop, now the country's largest of its kind, was connected on Sunday, capping a 15-year project involving nine substations and nearly 10,000 steel towers, according to a subsidiary of State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., which constructed the project.

据建设该项目的国家电网新疆电力有限公司的一家子公司称，750千伏（kV）环路的最后一段已于周日接通，为一个涉及9个变电站和近10,000座钢塔的15年项目画上了句号。

This move completed a "power expressway loop", which is expected to become fully operational by November 2025, the company said.

该公司表示，此举完成了“电力高速公路环路”，预计将于2025年11月全面投入运营。

Tarim Basin is home to the Taklimakan Desert, the world's second-largest drifting desert. For centuries, relentless sandstorms have battered the oases of southern Xinjiang, isolating them not only in terms of distance but also from the prospects of development.

塔里木盆地是世界第二大漂流沙漠塔克拉玛干沙漠的所在地。几个世纪以来，无情的沙尘暴袭击了南疆的绿洲，不仅在距离上，而且在发展前景上也与世隔绝。

Officials and experts say the project could put southern Xinjiang on a fast track to development and boost new energy supply nationwide.

官员和专家表示，该项目可以使南疆走上发展的快车道，并促进全国新能源供应。