China has started to build the first 1100 kilovolt direct current electricity transmission line in the world on Monday, January 11, 2016. [Photo: people.com.cn]

China started to build the first 1,100 kilovolt direct current electricity transmission line in the world on Monday.

The power line will have the highest voltage, biggest transmission capacity, longest distance and the latest technology on the planet.

Chen Weijiang is a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"The system from eastern Junggar Basin to southern Anhui Province adopted the 1,100 kilovolt voltage for the first time. Its nominal voltage is 37.5 percent higher than those with an 800-kilovolt nominal voltage. And the transmission capacity is 50 percent more. We also increased the transmission distance from 2,000 to 3,000 kilometers."

The project starts from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and runs southeastwards through provincial level regions of Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Henan and Anhui.

The whole length will be 3,324 kilometers.

When finished in 2018, its transmission capacity will be 12 million kilowatts.

It will transmit 66 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to the Yangtze River Delta in the east, every year.

It should also help reduce dust, sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide emissions.