Inner Mongolia energy to cross Yangtze to power Shanghai

A cross-river project designed to facilitate power transmission from Inner Mongolia autonomous region to Shanghai was launched in the city's Chongming district on Thursday, according to the State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Co.

The project, serving as a controllable node of the whole power transportation program, will set the stage for the main construction and the completion of the entire line.

Scheduled for completion and operation by the end of 2030, the cross-river project involves an investment of about 11.26 billion yuan ($1.67 billion). It is the first major power grid project approved by Shanghai during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period.

The project extends from Shanghai's Chongming Island to Taicang in Jiangsu province, running under the main navigation channel of the Yangtze River and featuring a newly built 12.2-kilometer river-crossing tunnel alongside a 1.83-kilometer onshore tunnel.

With a length of about 1,800 kilometers, the overall power transmission program from Inner Mongolia to Shanghai will be able to deliver 40 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to Shanghai per year, with more than half generated from green energy. The project is expected to facilitate the outward transmission of large-scale green power from Inner Mongolia and support Shanghai's transition to greener, low-carbon energy.

In 2025, Shanghai imported 99.84 billion kWh of electricity via external transmission channels, accounting for 47.8 percent of the city's total electricity consumption. The cross-river project is set to meet Shanghai's growing electricity demand, offering solid support for the city's development of new quality productive forces, including AI and integrated circuits.