At 17:00 on March 21, the control room of Ma’anshan’s 500 kV Suoku substation displayed continuously updating operational data on its monitoring screens. As the duty operator issued a remote closing command, the No. 3 main transformer successfully entered energized trial operation — marking the formal start of power transmission for the intelligent substation that took hundreds of days to build and making it the first newly commissioned ultra‑high‑voltage transmission and transformation project in Anhui during the 15th Five‑Year Plan period.

The 500 kV Suoku substation is located in Jiashan Township, Yushan District. Construction began in November 2024, and from early site selection and planning to on‑site construction, multiple workflows set fastest‑in‑province records.

As the “No. 1 project” in Ma’anshan’s recent power grid development, the Suoku substation is a key node in building the city’s “one river, two wings; three plants, four substations; five‑ring coordinated” grid layout. “After commissioning, the 500 kV substation capacity serving the urban area and Dangtu County will increase from 1,500 MVA to 3,500 MVA, providing strong support for power supply security during peak summer demand and for local economic and social development,” said Wang Ji, head of the Construction Department at State Grid Ma’anshan Power Supply Company. The project will form two 220 kV grid zones together with the existing 500 kV Dangtu substation, optimizing the city’s grid structure and significantly improving the reliability and stability of power supply in the central urban area.

Major energy infrastructure serves both as a “stabilizer” for power supply security and as a “first mover” for high‑quality development. As the city accelerates integration into the Yangtze River Delta and continues to strengthen concentrations of advanced manufacturing, high‑grade and resilient grid infrastructure has become a critical foundation for supporting industrial development and project implementation. “Once the project is in operation it will further enhance the city’s capacity to secure energy elements, better meet enterprise production and urban operation needs, and provide firmer power support for improving industrial carrying capacity, ensuring major project construction, and continuously optimizing the business environment,” A representative officer of the Energy and Environment Office of the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, told reporters.

As the first newly commissioned ultra‑high‑voltage transmission and transformation project in Anhui during the 15th Five‑Year Plan, the commissioning of the 500 kV Suoku substation carries far‑reaching significance. “The operational Suoku substation will further optimize the regional grid architecture and become an important node for Anhui’s ‘eastward development’ and energy interconnection with the Yangtze River Delta,” said a representative officer of the Construction Division, Construction Department, State Grid Anhui Electric Power Company. From strengthening a city’s grid to serving Yangtze River Delta integration, the commissioning of the 500 kV Suoku substation marks a new step in the city’s energy infrastructure development and injects strong momentum into high‑quality regional economic growth.