BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) said on Wednesday that it will start constructing a new batch of ultra-high voltage (UHV) projects in the second half of the year.

With a total investment of more than 150 billion yuan (about 22 billion U.S. dollars), these projects are expected to further leverage the role of power grids in expanding investment, according to the company.

In the first half of 2022, the company has 11 UHV projects worth 90 billion yuan under construction, with the length of transmission lines totaling 6,828 km, it said.

Among the 11 projects, the Baihetan-Jiangsu 800-kilovolt UHV direct current power transmission project became operational a month ago, transmitting clean hydropower from the southwestern province of Sichuan to east China's economic powerhouse Jiangsu Province.

State Grid said its investment in projects under construction amounted to 883.2 billion yuan in the first seven months.

The company's total investment in projects is expected to hit a record high of 1.3 trillion yuan this year, which will lead to 2.6 trillion yuan worth of relevant investment in upstream and downstream industries.