Chinese power line projects seek private capital in sign of infrastructure shift

In the latest sign of China’s push to channel private capital into infrastructure, several local governments have begun actively seeking private investors for two major ultra-high-voltage power line projects – the first schemes of their kind to open up to non-state funding since a Beijing directive encouraging the practice last November.China is building a series of vast power lines to funnel clean energy from its resource-rich but sparsely populated western regions to power-hungry industrial hubs towards the east, as it strives to meet its climate goals while adapting to surging electricity demand from the artificial intelligence and electric vehicle sectors.One of the lines seeking private investment will stretch 1,996km (1,240 miles) from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China’s far northwest to the city of Mianyang in Sichuan Province. It will also provide power to the southwestern municipality of Chongqing.The governments of Xinjiang, Qinghai province and Chongqing released separate notices last week calling for private investors to participate in the 31.1 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion) project alongside the China" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="12626" data-entity-type="organization">State Grid Corporation of China, a major state-owned player in China’s energy sector.The northwestern Gansu province issued a similar notice last month calling for private investment in another power line running from Gansu to Sichuan Province, which has a planned investment of about 24.6 billion yuan.Both projects are scheduled to be put into operation by the end of 2028.