China connected its first 100-megawatt-class compressed carbon dioxide energy storage facility to the grid in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, establishing full-cycle carbon dioxide-related operation from compression to liquefaction, energy storage, vaporization, expansion, energy release and power generation.
The facility, operated by China Huadian Corporation Ltd., marks that China has made a breakthrough in gas-liquid phase change energy storage technologies and applications and has blazed a new path for long-duration energy storage.
The 848-mu (56.53 hectares) facility, located in Xinjiang’s Mori Kazakh Autonomous County, is equipped with five gas holders, 141 liquid storage units and 97 thermal storage units.
With its compressed carbon dioxide energy storage technology, the facility has advantages including high efficiency, low cost, high safety, zero pollution, long service life and intelligent operation. Its designed efficiency makes it the most efficient carbon dioxide power generation unit in China.
Capable of flexible charging and discharging in response to grid demand, the facility stores power during off-peak hours and releases electricity at peak load with minute-level response. It can store 290 million kilowatt-hours of electricity during off-peak hours and discharge 180 million kWh of green power during peak demand each year.
A comprehensive, unmanned and round-the-clock intelligent safety inspection has been adopted to enable “one-click startup and unattended operation” for the facility’s operation and maintenance. Operators can remotely launch unmanned aerial vehicles to conduct continuous, automatic inspections of gas storage tanks, liquid storage units and other installations. The drones can transmit real-time, high-definition data, intelligently identify equipment hazards, adverse pipeline conditions and operational anomalies, and correspondingly give warnings for such matters. Through this, operators can rapidly assess conditions and address them, so as to build a robust safety barrier for this giant “green power bank” in the Gobi Desert.
Upon completion, the facility is expected to generate approximately 200 million kWh of electricity annually, saving 50,000 metric tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 170,000 tons annually.
The facility will significantly improve the flexibility and safety of the power system, continuously expand the supply of green electricity and support the development of China’s new power system.
(Executive editor: Zuo Shihan)
