The 1,000-megawatt hybrid solar power plant built by China Three Gorges Corporation in Hami, a city in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, began trial commercial operation on July 7.
The power plant combines concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) generation, and it boasts the largest installed capacity among China’s CSP and PV power plants utilizing linear Fresnel technology.
Situated in the Gobi region of Hami, the power plant consists of a 100-MW molten salt CSP power plant with thermal energy storage and a 900-MW PV power station. Notably, there are 260,000 high-precision sun-tracking mirrors in the CSP station, covering a reflective area of 800,000 square meters. It is equipped with an eight-hour high-temperature molten salt thermal energy storage system, enabling stable, dispatchable electricity generation even when sunlight is unavailable.
A panorama of the 100-megawatt molten salt CSP power plant. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
In the daytime, the PV power station maintains full-load operations to generate electricity, while the CSP station collects sunlight and converts it into thermal energy for storage. During nighttime and during cloudy days, the CSP station releases the thermal energy stored in its molten salt to sustain power generation. This helps reduce the fluctuations and intermittency typically associated with renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
“With a large installed capacity, the CSP station can support eight-hour non-stop power generation while discharging zero carbon emissions,” the leader of the power plant project said. “The whole power plant has been connected to the grid, marking a pivotal step in moving linear Fresnel technology from the laboratory to large-scale commercial application.”
Moving forward, the project team will review technical and operational experience gained throughout the CSP's connection to the grid, commissioning, trial operation and commercial application. They aim to compile standardized operating manuals to provide a systematic technological solution for future hybrid solar power projects.
(Exeutive editor: Zuo Shihan)
