BEIJING — A major part of China's west-to-east power transmission program kicked off operation on July 1, a further boost to the coordinated development among different regions.

With its transmission line stretching about 2,080 km, the Baihetan-Jiangsu 800-kilovolt ultra-high-voltage (UHV) direct current power transmission project transmits clean hydropower from Baihetan, the world's second-largest hydropower station, in the southwestern province of Sichuan to East China's economic powerhouse Jiangsu province.

It is the world's first UHV direct current power transmission project using a new approach that combines the conventional direct current and flexible direct current technologies, according to the State Grid Corporation of China.

The project has a power transmission capacity of 8 million kW and can deliver more than 30 billion kWh of clean electricity annually, helping reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 25 million metric tons every year, the company said.